Gosh it’s taken a lot of time to get here. And I’m not home free yet. But I’m running again.
If you haven’t been following, I’ve been injured, since mid-January. You can get the details here.
I’ve only run a handful of times, and I’ve been taking it VERY slow, and using walk breaks. I’m being super cautious, because I don’t want to go backwards. The last couple runs have gone very well, and I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.
Now that I’m on the other side and starting to recover, I’m reflecting on the why, and what I’ve learned through this experience. Here are the lessons that I’ve found so far.
Lesson 1:
More is not always more. I am a greedy person. I’m also Type A, and I can let the numbers get to me. I try to put up defenses so that it doesn’t get out of control, but it still tends to here and there. I heard a quote a few weeks ago, that the right mileage for training for a race is the LEAST that you can do to get to the race in the best shape that you can. I’ve always tried to get in the MOST that I can while staying reasonably healthy. I think that “reasonably healthy” is something that slides, and slides, until you’re teetering on the brink of injury. It can be a slippery slope.
Lesson 2:
I need to let go of control. I don’t like to do this. I like to plan, or organize and to be the master of everything around me. I’ve been slowly learning this lesson over the years. I’ve gone from needing a 12-18 week schedule and doing every single workout, even if it kills me, to taking things a week at a time, and moving workouts around to fit my life. I don’t think that’s enough. I don’t often change workouts once I’m in them, I don’t bail on long runs once I’ve started, I keep pushing. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good to push, and we have to embrace pain to be successful at the long races, but it’s a fine line. In an effort to be better at this, I’m going to be working with a coach this summer. She is local to me, an incredible runner, and super strong. I’m looking forward to getting more input on how to balance things out to become a more balanced, stronger version of me.
Terry's Blog 
Gratz! Awesome feeling isnt it. Just keep taking it slowly!
The hard thing is that that the time to stop is while you still can go. I always like to leave a workout thinking I could have done more, with rare exceptions for a reason. The injury thing happens easier and easier as you get older, and recovery takes longer and longer. I’m not just saying. The key thing is to listen to what your body is really saying, not what you want it to say, or what you’d like it to say, or what you think it should say. Hope the recovery continues for you!