Back on the Horse
On Saturday I ran for the first time in nine days.
It wasn’t pretty.
I had planned to squeeze a nine-miler before a date. And this wasn’t just any date, this was a third date.
If you know me in real life, you know I haven’t made a third date in, well, forever. I had actually bought an outfit.
In spite of said outfit, I still felt nervous. Thus, nine miles. Two laps around Lake Merced.
Yeah I’d been sick for the past few days, but I was sure I could throw down at least a third of the marathon I’d run a month ago.
After shaking off my limbs, I leapt forward, so thrilled to run again. The object of my affection had insisted I listen to The Refreshments, which led me to immediately download the band’s second album as my latest workout playlist.
My little crush would carry me through the next 90 minutes.
I bobbed my head around as “Banditos” flowed into my ear canal. I felt my face split into a loopy grin.
Clocked the first mile in 9:14. Usual for the beginning of my runs around the lake. I felt like punching the air.
Nine minutes later I stopped. Bent over, caught my breath.
Effin’ a. How did I get so out of shape?
I walked a bit. Told myself I would resume my run after one song. I waited for two. When I did pick up my legs, I felt like I was trying to scissor-kick my way through putty.
I could only manage one more mile — one ten-minute mile — before calling it a day and walking back to my car.
I mused over the last thirty days. Since the marathon, I’d only run eight times. My longest run had been a 10K, and that had included walking breaks. Sure, I needed a bit of rest after CIM, and I could not run while I was sick. But I had slacked off.
Nonetheless, I refused to beat myself up. A bad run is still a run. Better than nothing.
Yes, I am undertrained for my first race of the year, the Waterfront 5K. It’s in 20 days.
What I must do is adjust my expectations. I’ll build myself back to race shape and use Waterfront as a test run. I’ll run hard on race day, but I won’t kick myself when I finish slower than my personal best.
Whatever. It’s a three-dollar race. I’ll run it for kicks.
And then I’ll set my sights on another 5K and start chipping away at the old P.R.
Like this:
Filed under: 5K | 9 Comments
Sesa, I would not worry. I was in your shoes — about a month before my first half marathon (after bailing out of two ORF training programs, so I was already feeling like the half was cursed!) I completely tanked on a training run that was supposed to be 10 miles but I could only do 8 (and walked about 1.5 of that before I threw it in). I did my first half in a respectable 2:00:xx, so I don’t think a single bad training run is a predictor of anything. And you have been through a lot — marathon, flu, holiday travel, dating stress. So don’t panic! In my case, I think it was a short enough run that I wasn’t (but should have been) fueling. I was also definitely battling some sort of illness that never really manifested itself.
Anyhow, I’m not fully ready to let you off the hook for running your fastest. ;-) Good luck with the date.
Thanks, Merrilee!
I’m not too bummed about Saturday’s run. I still have three months before the ORF half (my first “A” race of the year); there’s plenty of time to get myself back into booty-shorts shape. I’m going to take it easy for the next week or two before I try to do any speedwork. :)
I took 20 days off after CIM and have had moments like this too. Just listen to your body (hard to do!) and take time to rebuild and you’ll be back to peak form in no time!
Thanks, Naomi! I’m going to work on building a base (read = easy runs) over the next 2-3 weeks. After I log some decent mileage I’ll incorporate speed workouts again.
give yourself a break my friend. really hope you are feeling better and more importantly that date #4 is on the calendar. ;)
Thanks, Courtney! Hope to see you at tonight’s run :)
Totally with you. Hang in there!!!
Hey Sesa,
I ventured over to your blog from Loteria Chicana’s web space.
I’ve had those days where I’ve started off my runs feeling amazing and rocking out to my newly downloaded tunes, and then suddenly I’m sucking for air and feeling like poop. I use to find this discouraging, but now I take it as my body giving me a sign. I call it a day, stretch, and hope for a better run next time.
Cheers!
Hi, Laura! Thanks for reading :)
Yeah, I’m trying to be patient with myself. I have a race in only seven days, so I’m trying not the psych myself out.