Sam woke me up at about 6:00 this morning. She used to wake me up every am at 5:00.....somehow her internal clock is off an hour, and I'm not going to complain. (giggle)
I donned my running clothes, shoes, watch and hydration pack (first time using it, test run!!)...and headed out the door. Since my daily runs during the week are all hills, I try to give myself a break (and a morale boost) by running a pretty flat route on the weekends.
Since I haven't ran since August 26th, the flat route was a definite!!!!
The first half was painful....not to my knee, but to my brain mostly. My breathing was great, my heart rate was better than expected, and my legs (including injured ankle and knee) were great! But it felt sloppy....forced....and not natural.
The second half felt MUCH better. I ran for longer distances with less walk breaks, and felt like I was getting back into my stride.
There were very few people on the trail this morning, Sundays are great! With about a mile left, I could hear someone behind me.
I kicked my pace up a little.
I'm not the most competitive person out there, but I didn't want him to pass me. He could run right beside me for all I cared, but passing wasn't an option.
Instead of taking that one last walk break towards the end, he pushed me harder than I would have pushed myself. I could hear his breathing getting heavier....and his steps getting heavier.
By the time I hit the end of the run, my breathing had started to edge towards labored as well. I wanted to tell him thanks for the mental push....but when I turned around....he had already turned and headed back on the trail....walking it out. He stretched for a while, and then got into his car and left...without so much as one instance of eye contact.
Oh well. :-)
When I pulled into my driveway, I stopped at the mailbox. I'd forgotten to get the mail yesterday. In it, was a package for me.
??????
My headbands had arrived!!!! I'm SOOOO sick of using the sleeve of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my eyes. Mostly because there's allot of sweat to wipe, and my sleeves end up all soggy.
So, I ordered some Bondi Bands...and they'd finally arrived!
If I'd checked the mail yesterday, or this morning, I'd have had them for my run. Darn it! (giggle) I'll let you know how they work after my first run with one.
Here is my favorite one....of course!
It's actually been, probably a month or two, since I've had one.....but today, it sounds really good!!! :-)
7 comments:
Awesome run!!! Way to push it at the end. And l-o-v-e the headband - I'm such a fan of bondibands. :) I still get a little sweat in my eyes, but I'm in FL and you lose about 3-4lbs of sweat each run lol, it's expected - the bondiband is simply filled to the max with sweat. :)
I can't wait to wear it and see how much difference it makes. Even if it just gets rid of SOME of the sweat from my eyes, I'll be a happy camper. :-)
Awesome to hear that your knees are healed! 7 miles, you rock, I think I could walk 2! I was waiting for a twist in the story of the end of your run-like it was some famous runner. Maybe he was,you'll find out next time.
@ Liz - nope, not a famous runner...that I know of. I guess, unless someone walked up to me and said "Hi, I'm a famous runner" I'd actually have no idea. :-) :-) :-) He was a pretty fit dude though, not sure why he ran behind me...by the looks of him, he could have passed at any time. To think someone was using me for pacing makes me giggle. :-)
He's probably reading your Blog right now! LOL
Hi there! New follower - I am going to read your past posts about injury - cause that's where I am at right now and I need to see there is hope!
@ Liz - you just never know, do you?? :-)
@ Maxi - hello and welcome! There is totally hope after injury! You just have to take it easy and listen to your body. It usually knows best. :-)
I went on to check out your blog, but something isn't working right...will try again later.
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