It's Hard Work

A very wise person once told me that "if was easy, everyone would do it."  Isn't that so true?  And aren't the hardest things always the most worth it in the end?  I'm particularly reminded of this piece of wisdom in the last 10 days as I've returned to running.

Getting back into shape is hard.  It's even harder when the last real run I had was a killer sub-2 hour 14 mile run.  (That's 8:25 per mile pace).  I can understand why people are discouraged at trying to get into shape.  The pain, the process.  It's not the most fun.  But it is entirely worth it.  That I promise you.

My strategy has been to incorporate a little of the Jeff Galloway method into my training.  I started out with running 3 minutes and walking 2, then repeating.  Then I moved up to running 4 minutes and walking 1, repeat.  Tonight I was able to run an entire mile, walk 2 minutes, for 3.6 miles.  Go me!  My pace is way slower, hovering around 10:00 per mile.  But it's alright.  It's progress.  Once I can string together 4-5 straight miles of running, I'm diving back into a training program.

Anybody else out there just getting started?

And I'm Back

Alright, three weeks and 2 days post delivery, and I'm ready to get back at it.  If you're following along at home, I'll have a training schedule posted next week.  For now, so as not to spur any major injury, I plan to hit the treadmill (I LOATHE the treadmill, by the way) for the first few days and will stick only to walking.  Right or wrong, my reason for doing this is to get back into the rhythm of exercise and to build a little more strength in muscles that haven't been used consistently in a couple of months.  I also need to try to figure out what time of day is going to work best for fitting workouts in.

The last time I came back after pregnancy, I started too much too quickly and ended up with a foot injury that put me back a few weeks.  I'd like to avoid that again, if possible.

The combination of walking and strength training for a while should do the trick, then I plan to slowly add in running until I'm back to running 4-5 days/week.  From there, I can build back up my mileage.

The schedule will mimic my training schedule for days to run, but for now I'll swap out runs with walks.  If you'll be joining me, gear up!  I've got my first workout planned for tomorrow morning around 5:00am.

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited to be back now that the weather has turned cold.  Nothing beats an early morning run while there's frost on the ground.  I've already dusted off my tights and gloves...