I ran yesterday.
I haven’t admitted it, really, but yesterday as I ran, I finally realized that I am currently at the lowest point of my entire 3.5-year running “life” and it’s really damn depressing.
I ran 3.1 miles around and around my apartment complex yesterday, and it took me 36:22 (average heart rate of 180). ~13:10 for the first 1.1 miles, 11:50 for the second mile, and 11:22 for the last mile. That’s longer than it took to run my first-ever 5K race in 2002. That’s longer than it’s taken me to run any 5K race, ever.
I’ve been saying that this summer is just like last summer, that I haven’t been running because it’s so hot, that I’ve been making up for it in other ways. But that’s not true. I haven’t been running and I haven’t been doing anything else. No biking. No swimming. Just sitting on my butt each evening.
I had another soccer game on Saturday morning and by the second half, I couldn’t run anymore. I could jog weakly after the ball, but I couldn’t turn on any sprint speed. It was really hot, to be sure, but I still had zero energy.
I don’t know why this happened. I could say I got burned out after the marathon, and I think I did. I could say that I’ve been hoping my knee will get better with a break from running, and I have. But mostly I just haven’t been running. Because I just haven’t felt like it. At the same time that I’ve really started to get to know a lot of other people in the Houston running community (through blogs and other ways), I’ve essentially stopped running. It makes no sense.
I hate this. I hate that I am back to basically zero fitness a mere 9 months after running a marathon. I hate that I’ve fallen far enough that it’ll take me at least a month, a painful month, to get back to the point where running isn’t annoying.
I hate that after I ran 3.1 miles last night, my legs felt tired and sore. And this morning, when I got out of bed, my knees ached. Not the left one, which I hurt years ago, or the right one, that is still complaining from the mystery bump on my kneecap, but both of them.
Sigh.
Sigh sigh sigh.
By October 16, I must be ready to run 10K as part of the Houston 20K relay. I’m running with Cassie, who I hope doesn’t mind that I’ll be lucky to finish my half in 1:10!
The distance that soon is going to be a real challenge for me. I don’t care if it takes me all day, if I have to walk a lot of it, if I come in dead last or all three! I just want to do it! It will be tough as right now I’m only doing 2.5 miles. My team was dead last at the XC relay but we had a BLAST!!
Well look at it this way. You accomplished something that I probably never will. I freely admit that I am not a runner, not a biker, not almost-anything-that-causes -pain. Admittedly I do like chasing after random balls (much like certain four legged animals I know) volleyball, softball etc. Don’t think about it as having lost running forever — you’ve just moved on for a while.
The heat really sucks right now and that is a huge discouragement to most, even the most veteran and talented runners. It will get better and you’ll be fine. Just imagine everyone hollering, “Go Sarah!” like I kept hearing running down Memorial Drive this past January.
I think a lot of the benefits from the preparation and performance of the marathon will stay with you for some time into the future, even if now you find you have lost your wind again. Some strength conditioning would be helpful to go along with the running to help you maintain your shape over prolonged periods. Running alone tends to break down muscles so some lifting or machine work would help you stay fit, even without running.
Dr. G