Rain, Rain, Go Away

Friday night was a supposed to be a run night.  I had 2 people ask me throughout the day if I got my run in.  I had not.  

So, after a full day at work, horrible traffic, picking up my kiddos, and then having to leave again at 6:20, I finally got home at 5:00.  

Oh...and it was pouring down rain.

I had a choice.

I could fore go my run.  I had good reasons.  Or, I could put on my shoes and get in a solid 30 minutes.

By 5:20, I was in my running clothes and started lacing up my shoes.  The dog and I headed out.  It wasn't raining.  We finished a shortened warp up and it was go time.

And it started raining.

And then it rained harder.

My dear running (and life...I can probably take away the descriptive word) friend once said that she would meet me in the rain or in the cold, but not both.  Thank goodness it was 70 degrees.

(Side note....earlier in the week it was 12.  Degrees.  For the high. There was ice on the road and snow in the yard.   Yesterday it was 70.  You are not losing your mind.  Welcome to Virginia.)

So, I got wet.  I remembered that I like running in the rain.  (Not every time...but sometimes.)

I didn't have time for my run on Friday.  I made time for my run on Friday.  I can do this!  I can make it work.  I will do this.  I WILL make it work!

Just as Fast as I Can

A song came on with these lyrics.  While I have taken them COMPLETELY out of context, they fit. 

Day 2 of the Comeback:  DONE.

It was a little harder today.  My body reminded me yesterday just how long my sabbatical actually was.  You know those muscles in your core that hold you upright?  (Did you even know that you had muscles in your core to hold you upright?)  Well, not running made those muscles go to sleep.  I woke them back up.  My nemesis, the hamstring, reminded me of its existence as well.

I did NOT pull my hamstring, but this is funny...

But, even with my old (yep....it is happening....I am getting old) body reminding me that it isn't getting any younger, I got up today, laced up my shoes, and headed back out there.  

Some thoughts:

- I am still slow.  It is a fact.  It might just be how it is.  I am way slower than my slowest slow.  I might get faster, but maybe not.  But it is not about speed.  (Hard to wrap my head around that sentence, but it is not.)  

- The dog was bad on the leash today.  He only made it about 10 minutes before he got banished back to his daddy.

- I brought back the music.  I like running with music.

- It felt good.  Even with the tight hamstring and the shoes that might be too small (or my feet are too big).  I have missed running for running's sake.  I am not training.  I have no races.  I just want to love running again.

- Today was a day of thinking and remembering:

              - I remembered how much fun running was when I was a stay at home mom.  When I had time to run.  When I was fast-ish.  When I was skinny-ish.  When going to the gym was the only thing I had to do some days. 

               - I was reminded today of the first time my wonderful coach told me to do a warm up run.  You know, when you run a mile or so before you run 13.1 miles or so.  I thought of this near the end of my time...when it was getting hard.  It made me laugh because I remember looking at him like he had lost his mind when he mentioned this warm up run.  One day we will get back to that

So, now what?

We have been home for a week.  I haven't been to work.  My husband has been home all day.  I can run at 10am or at 2pm.

But tomorrow is back to reality.

I am not a stay at home mom.  I work full time.  As soon as I get home from work, I am running a kid somewhere at least 3 days a week (and this is the off-season).  I have to feed everyone.  I have to do all of the chores.  I am looking at about 6 weeks of tackling all of this alone.  How am I going to fit in a run on top of everything else?  This is going to be the hard part.

Here's my plan:

I am going to run on our lighter days, 3 times a week.  I am going to do it in the evenings.  I am going to do it with my dog....kills 2 birds with one stone.  On the weekends, I am going to get up and get it done before everything else gets started.  On the other days of the week, I am going to get up early and do a Beachbody video.  Mix in some Shaun T ( I LOVE that guy) and some Autumn Calabrese to cross train.  I will rest on Sundays.    

Please help me stay on track.  I can' t meet my running friends.  I can't go to the gym.  All I can do is the best that I can.

Let's see how a run on Friday works into this crazy life!

It's Like Riding a Bike

I used to be a runner. 

I used to get up at ungodly hours to run ridiculously far for a medal and a banana.

And then I stopped.

3 years ago, in 2015, I ran my first marathon.   And then I ran another in the same year.  This was on the heels of  16 half marathons in 12 months.  And then I stopped. 

There are lots of reasons.  My body was tired.  My mind was tired.  I went back to work.  I needed a break.  It was too early.  It was too late.  I had to take the kids somewhere.  I had work to do.  My husband was gone.  (This is the most recent one.)

All of these are valid excuses.  All of them together add up to a huge mental wall.  It was too hard.  I was too tired.  So, I didn't do it.

And there have been consequences for my decisions.  I'm sluggish.  I'm cranky.  I have gained weight.  (In my defense, that started during marathon training....I just didn't stop it.)

I planned my comeback so many times in my head, but it scared me to put on my shoes.  I didn't want to run with people because I let myself get out of shape.  I didn't want to run alone because it is dark and lonely in the middle of nowhere where I live.  I was afraid of the hot.  I was afraid of the cold. I knew it would be hard.  I was afraid that I would forget how. So, I didn't start.

And then the Bomb Cyclone of 2018 hit.  And I have been in my house with my family for almost a week.  We got 8 inches of snow.  The temperature did not get over 30 degrees for 5 days.  Until today.
Today is was a balmy 35 degrees.  My neighbor plowed a path up my street.  So, I got dressed and laced up my (new...I bought them in July) running shoes and decided to go for it.

Some truths from today's reset:

1)  My body remembered what to do.  It felt good to put on my running pants, my tech shirts, my neon yellow princess hat, and my trusty purple running gloves.  (The jury is still out on the shoes....)  It felt good to get out there. 
2)  It wasn't easy.  I mean, it was 35 degrees.  It is not easy to run and breathe at 35 degrees even if you are in shape.
3)  It was boring.  I ran up and down a 1/4 mile stretch of plowed road for 40 minutes.  My phone was dead, so I ran without music.
4)  It was exciting.  I ran with no music.  I didn't have to talk to anyone, so I didn't have pretend that I could breathe.
5)  My dog LOVES to run!!  He might be my new favorite winter/spring/fall running partner.  (Bonus...maybe he will stop chewing up my house if he becomes a runner!)
6)  My old trusty Timex interval watch is less stressful than the fancy Garmin or the running app on the phone.  The Timex doesn't judge.  It just beeps.  You make a change when it beeps.  It doesn't track distance or speed.  It just tells time.  There is something calming about that.
7)  I miss running.

Some stats from today's reset:
1)  I did Galloway run/walk intervals for 30 minutes, with a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down, for a total of 40 minutes of movement.
2)  You have to go back to go forward, so I did a 1 minute run/2 minute walk for this first time back out.  (It took me exactly one minute to catch my breath after the run interval...I am blaming it on the cold.)  I think this interval will work for the next week or so.
3)  I did not break any speed records and I did not pick up any speed during my sabbatical.  I can only estimate that I went about 2.5 miles. 
4)  I kept the dog with me for about 25 minutes.
5)  My husband joined me for a little but of it.  I ran circles and then walked with him.  It was nice to have company, but he worried too much.

It's time to start over.  I miss running.  I miss the excitement of a starting line.  I miss the exhilaration of a finish line.  It's not going to be easy.  I may be running in the pitch black dark.  I may be running up and down my street, but I am going to do it.  It's time to start over.