May Running Reflections

Or maybe a better title for this post is "May Rehabbing Myself In The Gym Reflections." Ouch. Not at all how I wanted to come back after my race!

So everyone remembers I finished my first half marathon on April 30th. Yay! So exciting, tears flowing, hugs everywhere. I couldn't wait to get back in my sneaks and hit the pavement. So the Tuesday Run Club seemed like a perfect way to get back in the swing, have a nice little 3 mile jaunt, and hang out with some cool people.

And there in lies the problem. Instead of taking it easy like my still recovering muscles and joints probably needed (that's PT brain talking), my runner brain said "GOOOOOO!" and man, did I lay down my fastest 5k ever or what?! And I felt damn good doing it! No hints of soreness anywhere. But unfortunately, I think that laid the groundwork for some not so spectacular things in the near future.

That Friday I went out on my usual 4 mile loop and felt great again for the first 2.5 miles. And then my calf tightened up. Once again, the little PT part of my brain said "Sara, you should stop and stretch and probably walk" but the runner part of me said "Keep Going! It'll be fine!" I should listen to PT Sara more often. I mean, I guess 7 years of schooling is worth something.

So ouch. Calf strain. Before all of this happened I had signed up for our local half marathon that takes place over Memorial Day weekend. I was SO excited to get back out there and on a course I knew so well!

Fast forward to today and I haven't ran in 2 weeks. I tried to get back out there an go for a "longer" run since I knew I would have the half at the end of the month and figured I should do a little long running, but after 2 miles my calf cramped again and same thing again after 5. I managed to squeak out 6.5 miles, but it was tough.

So finally PT Sara won out and instead of spending my afternoons pounding pavement in the glorious sunshine, I spend them in the stinky gym filled with bro tanks. But I'm working hard. I might be a PT, but it's so hard to try and rehab yourself. I just want to skip over everything and get to the fun part. I'm not disciplined when it comes to the stuff I KNOW I need to be doing.

Lucky for me I found an excellent website called Kinetic Revolution. James (the guy who runs the website plus is a Sports Rehab Therapist and Running Coach plus has a British accent) put together a 30 Day Challenge to move better and "transform your running." So far, it's been awesome. And it's not something I had to think up for myself either, which is even better! I would 100% recommend checking out the website and following him on Twitter. He posts the BEST (and somewhat nerdy which makes them awesome) articles!

Well...that's it. It's been a rather disappointingly boring month for me. But I'm proud to say I'm on the mend. And I really plan on sticking with the 30 Day Challenge, even though the core exercises that are coming up look really scary to me.

I hope you all had a better May than me! No more injuries!

-Happy (hopefully) Running! 


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