(a picture from a run in Nisene that Ed and I did last October)
I'm officially moving a week from today, and it's suddenly sinking in that the running spots I've had the good fortune of getting to know this past year (mostly over the summer and fall) will now be an extra 40 minutes away and will not be so accessible once I move. With that in mind, I suggested to Ed that we take one final jaunt in Nisene Marks, the place of all my long training runs and Ed and my first date (a lovely 7 mile run...such an awesome first date).
I initally told him this would be strictly a hike, no running at all. I haven't run for almost a month now, and that had seemed to be a good thing. However, as I started getting ready, I thought that it would be nice to test out my body a bit on some soft relatively flat trails. See if that elliptical had strengthened my cardio system at all and made my muscles any stronger. We planned to do a small loop and explore a couple smal trails that were new, as well as some old favorites. I popped 2 ibprofen before we left, filled up some water, and we were off.
Back in the old days, I'd always park outside the park entrance and run in to save on the $6 entrance fee. However, the first three miles into the park are boring firetrails, so we opted to drive in and enjoy a mostly singletrack run.
With the pain reliever in my system (and a knee brace on, to help with whatever that might help with) I actually did okay. I had moments where I felt like a runner and like myself again. I can really tell that I'm in much better shape than on my last run (where I burst into tears because I was so frustrated with how out of shape I had become) so that was really exciting. It reassures me that he elliptical is doing something and that as long as I keep being active, I will be able to go back to running when the leg pain goes away and not be starting totally from scratch.
The leg is already a bit more sore, which confirms that lots of running still isn't good for me right now, but I've gotten a number of sheets of exercises from the PT that I"m supposed to do for 6 weeks that I'll be focusing on, and I'll keep doing the elliptical, and maybe good things will happen.
For now, I'm just glad I got to feel like a runner again for a little while :)
4 comments:
Yaaa Addy! Glad to hear that you were able to get out and rumble around on some trails. Now get back on that EFX and heal up missy!
It's so hard to lose your conditioning when you are injured. It's times like these that really make you appreciate the kind of shape you were in for events like Tahoe and the like. You'll get there again. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Trail Scat
Woo-hoo! That's some good news. It's great that you have found a way to maintain, get some exercise and strengthen during the healing process. Good job!
ooo you snuck in some running. Good for you, seems like the new exercise program is doing you good.
Glad to hear you were able to get out for a run, that is good news. I hope your leg issues get resolved soon, as there are plenty of trails to explore in the San Jose and surrounding areas.
By the way, I tagged you. Check out my blog for details (runswithslugs.blogspot.com). :-)
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