Nice and Easy–That’s My Style

I just got back from a little extended vacation on the Cape. My husband had to go down to Florida to drive my stepfather’s car up, so I was sans kids again until last night. Since my mother and my mother-in-law are such a big help with the littles, I decided to head down there.

We got to the Cape late afternoon Thursday, just enough time to sneak in a walk to the beach to enjoy the beautiful weather. Friday and Saturday were gorgeous too, with lots of outside activities. Finally on Sunday we got some much needed rain.

I took Thursday off from running and ran three miles Friday and Saturday. I felt great, albeit a little slow–but I know this is normal.

I wrote a post a while back about making sure that your “easy” runs are in fact easy. This is especially true when it comes to rehabbing a running injury. Often times, runners are so excited to be back running that they do too much too soon.

I am no stranger to the feeling of wanting to do too much too soon—I think it’s a very popular sentiment among runners. I had the feeling last week when I was running on the dreadmill. I had completed my one mile warm-up and was thinking about how great I felt—my running felt so comfortable and natural.

Several times I contemplated kicking the speed up a couple of notches, but the other voice in the back of my head told me to take it easy since this was the first time I had run two days in a row since my injury.

I am so glad that I actually listen to that voice now—I never used to! I think this last injury (hip tendonitis) kept me out of the game for so long that I am deathly afraid of being sidelined again. It was such a frustrating experience trying to figure out what was wrong in the first place, and then trying to fix it. I will do WHATEVER it takes to keep that from happening again.

Yes, I realize I will probably encounter another injury during my running career, but hopefully trying to be wiser about not pushing my body too hard and pushing through the pain will get me back in the game sooner!

Now for a fun tidbit. Over on runningshoes.com, they are hosting a contest with New Balance. Every Wednesday, one winner will be selected to receive a New Balance technical shirt, shorts and their choice of New Balance running shoes. The contest ends this Wednesday, April 25, with the announcement of the final winner. So head on over and leave a comment with your favorite spring training tip!