Back in February, I hurt my foot running (fracture of a metatarsal, I think – never went to a doctor, so I’m not entirely sure); then, I just got lazy. So, I went 6 months without running a whole lot. The past couple of weeks I’ve been gearing up again; and it’s a little like starting from scratch.
Having reached a certain level of conditioning and lost it is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it’s easier to work through a certain level of exhaustion because, from past experience, you know it will get easier. On the other hand, it’s annoying because you know how much ground you have left to make up.
Today was a good run – I went 4 miles and felt pretty good throughout. I needed that because the previous two runs (a 3 miler yesterday and a 4 miler last Sunday) were awful. I suspected that the heat was mostly to blame, but a couple in a row makes you start to wonder if maybe you’re not further out of shape than you thought. It was about 10 degrees cooler this morning, and I ran faster and with negative splits. So, all is well. Long term, I’m planning on running a half marathon in Las Vegas in December. But, I should probably get something a little sooner scheduled for better motivation. The Indy Monumental is a good one.
But, I’m intrigued by a 15k trail run on the Wabash Heritage Trail — the event also has 5k, half marathon, and marathon distances. Last year, as I recall, I had considered the same event, but one thing or another cropped up; and, as it turned out, the weather was awful. (Parts of the trail can get awfully soupy when it starts to rain.)
Big tip of the hat to you, sir, on the running. I’ve tried a few times, but just don’t enjoy it, and the knee pain after every 4-5 mile trot and hours of icing afterwards? Well, I can somewhat relate to the injury-as-laziness thing.
My wife ran a full marathon within a year of giving birth to our youngest. I was fully in awe.
Knee pain is nothing to screw around with.
Doug, I know exactly what you mean about having been at a level of fitness, lost it, and trying to rebuild.
The only saving grace is that there is some truth to “muscle memory”. It is easier to achieve a level of fitness that you have achieved before than it was to achieve it in the first place. In fact, in my experience, it is far easier.
The key is starting slow and working up to it, Mike. I don’t think I have EVER run 5 miles, much less started out with such a long run.
I have a treadmill, and there are a number of programs you can run. None of them exceed half an hour, and at most you run maybe half that time (if you consider a 10 minute mile running). You’re lucky to do much more than 2 miles at a time.
I think running is the most effective form of exercise, but you have to know your limits. That’s why I don’t mess around with racing, I think that you are far more likely to get hurt training for a race or racing than just running for fitness.
You’re right about it being a lot easier, Buzz. Not that it matters much, but I wonder how much is muscle memory and how much is just having been there before mentally. Kind of like how a trip you’ve made many times before requires less attention than a brand new one.
And, definitely, start slow. In my 20s, I had a number of false starts with running. My main problem was that I burst out of the gate quickly, got exhausted almost immediately, and gave up. When I finally took up running in a sustainable way, I think I started out with 1 – 2 miles runs, maybe 11 – 12 minute miles, and, when necessary, the occasional walk break. That allowed me to build. For my part, I needed the race just to have a concrete goal I was working toward.
But, you’re definitely right that it is more likely to induce injury. Instead of just stopping when I felt like something wasn’t quite right; I “had” to keep going to get to the pre-determined distance. The healthy thing to do would have been to stop, take a few days off to heal, and then get going again.
I also have never run two days in a row. You need a day to heal. You can walk the second day (good for the stretch), but absolutely no running.