Monday, June 15, 2015

Blessings and Curses

But first! My current top 5 country songs:

Anything Goes - Florida Georgia Line
Cheap Seats - Dallas Smith
Real Life - Jake Owen
Sirens - Lee Brice
Crash and Burn - Thomas Rhett

I tell you these because 1) I'm obsessed with them, and 2) I've put them on my RUNNING PLAYLIST!

Yes, you read correctly, running. I was released from physical therapy last week (!!) and instructed to keep my runs between 3 and 4 miles until the pain goes away completely. Each run has moved me closer to negligible fatigue and farther from leg-dragging pain!

Yesterday, I ran outside at a normal pace for the first time in six months. I smiled the whole time; I felt as if I were flying. I pumped my arms and yipped a bit... I probably looked slightly insane.

You all know this feeling.

A little tidbit I learned from PT (disclaimer: this is one therapist's casual comment, not a medical certainty, but it's something I like to repeat to myself): When recovering and after being cleared to workout, feeling some pain is okay and common. What really indicates healing is how quickly the pain subsides after exercise. Last Monday, I ran three miles on the treadmill and was pretty much out of commission all day. Any movement hurt. Yesterday, I ran three and a half miles outside with much less pain during the run (like hardly any), and it went away in an hour. Progress, not perfection.

Now for the blessings and curses: summer and technology.

We all know summer running is hard. We all know summer running slows you down. I am thankful for these facts - coming back from an injury, I'm going to be slower due to lost fitness... but I can also look at my times and not feel SUPER down, because I know some of it is due to the time of the year! Yay!

The curse part? Summer running is hard, and summer running slows you down.

I use a Garmin and RunKeeper on my phone to track my workouts - sometimes one, sometimes both (I'm a little crazy).

All the gadgets!

I LOVE being able to look back at past runs! I love being able to give myself a little boost of confidence after viewing my stats from a hard run, and I love being able to see progress! But... while it's true that heat can slow me down, I can also look back at runs from LAST June and compare. Yikes.

I'm working really hard on not comparing. I'm pretty sure I've commented on that notion 39,233 separate times on ya'll's blogs. What I want to remember is that feeling I had yesterday - that smile, that mid-run fist pump. Wish me luck!

Any country music suggestions?
Anyone else a victim of comparison?

6 comments:

  1. Comparison is SO hard in everything. When it comes to athletic activities like running it's the worst! I try really hard just to focus on my own performance but it's so difficult not to compare myself to others. Especially now that I'm over 40! Geez!

    And YAY for running again! I always say the purpose of injuries is to make you appreciate your sport and not take it for granted. Those are great words about the pain during exercise after an injury, too.

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    1. I completely agree about the purpose of injuries! It's the whole "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" thing. These months have really turned me around on running, and I want to be grateful it's coming back - not upset because of something so silly as speed!

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  2. YAY! CONGRATULATIONS ON A PAIN FREE RUN! I'm so excited for you!! I think you are going to be back and stronger than ever before you know it! I definitely fall into the comparison trap pretty frequently. Even today I was realizing how much slower my average pace THIS month is than LAST month. Which makes sense because 1. it's BEYOND hot and humid out now and 2. I'm taking a big step back before marathon training, but still I was like hmmm maybe I should pick it back up. But I'm so happy for you and glad that PT was a success!

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    1. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Thanks for your continued support! Comparison is so hard to deal with mentally. Blah.

      PS Hope you're feeling better!

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  3. I 100% agree with your PT's advice! Your body should get used to the workload again but it does take some time.
    I also love to track everything about my run. Hence keeping a blog and a training log and using Garmin data.

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    1. Yep! As much as I'd love to just zip right back to where I was, I know that I need to take it slowly! And Garmin data is the best - especially the little player button thing online where you can watch yourself as a dot ascend and descend the elevation you ran (wow, that makes me sound super cool hahaha).

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