So, attempt #1 at 7 miles was a fail. I was quite disappointed. I mean I felt mentally prepared for the challenge. Previously, my furthest mileage had been 6.35, so 7 was completely do-able, without a question. Around mile 2, I noticed my left knee started bothering me. Around mile 4, it was bothering me pretty badly. At mile 4.5, I decided to be a grown-up and call it quits. You see, I have had ACL surgery on both knees and something I promised myself when I first started this running journey was that I would not push knee pain unless I was in a race (think half or full marathon).
I know I did the right thing. I listened to my body. BUT still...I wanted that 7 miles under my belt. So what did I do? I iced both knees. I Bio-Freezed them. I Tiger Balm menthol patched them. I rested them and tried again on Sunday. This time I added Linda, my younger sister to the mix. Linda, as you may recall, ran the Houston Half Marathon in January. She is awesome! She is faster than me, but told me she would run with me because while I needed to get the distance down, she just wanted to put in the exercise. It worked out quite well. Might I also add what a gorgeous day it was?!
It is so awesome having my Garmin Forerunner, too. I am able to explore areas beyond the normal 1.27 path I have been running for the past 2 months now. I discovered a pond and that lengthened the path to 1.91 miles. Linda and I met an older gentleman who had just completed 9 miles when we were finishing our last 1.4 miles and he told us about an extension off the pond that would lead us to some softball fields and some good running over in that area. We decided to check that out next week.
Also, I checked my watch right when I had completed 6.2 miles (a 10K) and was delighted to discover I had taken 5 minutes off the time I clocked in the H.E.B. Bayou City Classic 10K just 2 weeks ago. My hip is doing that much better!
Oh...and I have officially graduated from 3/1s to 4/1s as Linda and I maintained 4/1s the entire 7 mile distance.
And then in other news...I passed the 90 lb weight loss mark!!! Since January, my weight loss has slowed dramatically. I blame the running. It's like my body was all, "Whoa...what are you doing to me? I'm not sure I like this...I'm checking out and I'll get back to you later." I had some weeks with no weight loss. I had other weeks with under a pound and a few scattered in there with slightly over a pound. It has been very frustrating because I (obviously) increased the intensity of my workouts (running) and I am very careful with my diet. The only thing I changed was adding more whole grain carbs in because my body needed the added fuel for the running. This should have been more than okay given the exercise regimen.
Something must have clicked last week because out of nowhere, BAM!, a 3 lb. weight loss and that was with eating out all week long in celebration of my birthday. Then this past week, BAM!, a 5.6 lb. weight loss. This is exciting because only 9.6 more pounds until I reach an even 100. I would really like to hit this milestone before I leave for my vacation on May 8th.
Lessons learned - patience is a virtue and hard work pays off (eventually).
1 comment:
Good for you, this post is a great example how if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Way to attack that 7 miles, good job! And great job on the weight loss, you've accomplished so much!
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