So when my sister-in-law wowed my in-laws by explaining that she was planning to run 9 miles on the following morning (Christmas Eve) as a part of her half-marathon training, I completely ignored the fact that my longest run in the last year was 3 miles and that it nearly killed me, and instead asked if she would mind if I ran with her. Across the room my husband was looking at me with an expression that said "since when can you run 9 miles?" I explained to my sister-in-law and the other questioning faces in the living room that since she was planning to run 3 mile loops I would probably just run the first 3 or possibly 6 miles and let her finish the rest on her own. Although I was denying the reality of the situation, my husband clearly knew I would run the full 9 miles.
At 7:00 am the following morning, in 34 degree weather, with absolutely zero stretching or warming up, we set out. I'll be honest, I knew pretty quick that I would run the full nine miles. A couple of things were helping me out that morning:
1) the Cold is vastly easier to run in than heat
2) she paced much slower than my usual pace
3) Plano is incredibly Flat
Before I knew it we were halfway through the third lap. Although my calves were very tight and my joints were all a little sore, I felt pretty good overall. My heart rate was low and my pace was still pretty easy to maintain. I was feelin pretty proud of myself when we finished that 9th mile; everything was just peachy... or so I thought.
The next morning I was, as expected, quite sore in my calves, knees, and hips. Sometime later that day I realized that while my knees and right hip had worked out some of the soreness, my left hip actually felt worse. When I told my husband he pointed out that my body was in no way prepared for the long run and I could have really injured myself. I opted for my own more optimistic diagnosis and just assumed that my left hip was more sore due to an injury to my left knee in high school. I have always compensated for my left knee a little ever since and assumed my irregular gate had possibly put more strain on my left hip. Sadly, I'm afraid he may have been right.
Two days later I thought my hip felt a little better and I decided to go on a run. I quickly realized the running wasn't going to work out and walked back home trying desperately not to visibly limp. Today it has been three days since then and my hip is still not right. It's. better, but I'm still afraid to try running again.
I've definitely taken a few things away from this run, both good and bad:
1) just because I ran a marathon once (almost 5 years ago!!), it does not mean my body is indefinitely prepared for long distance running!
2) Keeping up with my sister-in-law, while gratifying, is totally not worth an injury, or even five days of near immobility.
3) the new pair of running shoes I just so happened to buy two days before our run totally rock! I now feel 100% confident recommending these shoes. A good friend had recommended Brooks running shoes and after reading up on them I decided to pull the trigger. I'm so happy I did!
4) Long distance running may be back in the cards for me. The marathon I ran pretty much killed my passion for running. The physical wear and tear on my body was so extreme that it took nearly 6 months before I could comfortably run over a mile again. While I will probably never run another marathon, this 9 mile run reminded me of the peace and sense of accomplishment that running can bring.
So all in all, as long as my hip continues to improve, I think I'm glad I ran it! But I'm definitely not doing that again unless I have trained properly!!
No comments:
Post a Comment