I'm back to running again. Only once or twice a week; but I'm running again.
The physio gave me the all clear to begin again, at the end of August, with the following guidelines:
- Easy running
- on grass/dirt whereever possible
- slow build - about 10% increase per week
I took these instructions very seriously, starting with a 5 minute run on 31 of August. It felt so weird! So incredibly jarring and uncomfortable after months of very low impact fitness training. I could have easily kept going at the 5 minute mark - thankful to have maintained some fitness over the injury period! - but I was a good girl and stopped.
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| My first run was along the top of this stopbank and back. Such a beautiful evening! |
The next few days I felt really sore, around the front of my hips and groin. However it wasn't the same pain that I'd felt when I first had the bone bruise. It felt much more like a muscular pain, which I figured was probably because running is NOT the same as a cross trainer where the movement is always in exactly the same plane of motion. I gave myself a good few days for everything to settle down again then went for another run. Afterwards my muscles were sore again but not NEARLY as sore as the first time - very encouraging.
The next few runs I spent doing laps around a school field. Boring, but at least I knew I could run on the grass. It was such a milestone reaching 10 minutes!
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| I'm not sure my gifting is in running selfies! |
We went to New Plymouth for a little holiday in early October and whilst there I managed to get out for a couple of beautiful runs - one 15 minute run around a walking path with my hubby, and a 3km run along a stream on my own. Just beautiful!
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| #runhappy in New Plymouth |
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| One of my favourite runs. It was so peaceful and quiet along this stream. Good for the soul. |
It's now 25th of October, and yesterday I finally reached that next milestone of 30 minutes continuous running. I ran in my favourite place, along the river, taking the off-road options wherever possible, as I'm still trying to stay off the hard concrete/asphalt as much as I can.
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| Yesterday's run along the river. I should have kept going to 5km! |
My next goal is 5km, (which perhaps I should have done yesterday as I was so close!). There's a local event in two weeks time that I'm thinking about entering. At the height of my running I would have scoffed at paying money to enter a 5k event!! But perspective is everything isn't it.
I still plan to stay with the gym for at least the next wee while - I'll keep cross training with the bike and/or the cross trainer, and aim to run only twice a week for now. But I'm very happy with how everything is feeling!
