Friday, July 15, 2011

Finding Balance In My Life Part III (Running)

Ahhh, let's see.  Where did we leave off?
When I wrote the first post back in June, I had no idea that it would turn into any sort of series on my blog.  But the response and the outpouring of love and support was incredible - so I wanted to hold myself accountable on here and follow up with ways I am making positive changes in my life.

And with that, we are on to today's subject - RUNNING!

When I was in college I used to run every day.  Back then we didn't have fancy shmansy garmin devices, so I'm not sure how far I actually ran - but I wore a watch and usually ran between 40 minutes to an hour a day at least five days a week.  Eventually my knee fell apart (well, the cartilage in my knee), I went to an orthopedic surgeon and he told me to stop running.  I complained a lot.

Can you imagine that?

Over the past two years, I have gotten sucked into the world of Healthy Living Blogs.  I came across several bloggers who have come back from knee injuries similar to mine and it gave me hope that I could too!

So last summer, as I was preparing to finish my stint as a Level 1 Trauma Chaplain, I had a thought.  And that thought had me reaching for my credit card and lacing up my running sneakers for the first time in three years.  I signed up for the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon - and then I ran it!

Then I moved to Connecticut, defended my ordination papers, started my Search & Call process, was offered a job two months later, was officially called a month after that and had four weeks to pack everything up and move again.

And then I started my first full time position in ministry.

Right before Easter.

There were days when I was unclear of what my name was.

But here we are, in July, six months after I crossed the finish line in Atlanta Thanksgiving morning.  I have gotten quite a few good runs in during that time, but nothing really that consistent.  And I can tell.  I am not as flexible as I used to be, my body doesn't crave healthy foods as much as it did when I was training and my energy level isn't as high.  I was thinking about my training the other day and realized how much fun it was to race!  The whole process - the training, the preparing, the racing.

I started googling fall races in my area and came across this race.  It is in Plymouth, MA in September and you can sign up for the 5K, 10K or half marathon.  I will definitely not be signing up for the half (as much fun as training was, it was very time consuming and I was only working a little over 20 hours a week at the time), but maybe the 10K?  I think 10K would be a great distance to work myself back up to.

I haven't signed up yet, but have been trying to get some miles in.  Last night I headed out and covered 3.12 miles in 34:11, averaging a 10:56 pace.  Here's the breakdown:
  • Mile 1 - 10:11
  • Mile 2 - 10:41
  • Mile 3 - 12:10
  • Mile 3.0 - 3.12 - 1:08 (9:10/mile pace)
The third mile I really needed a lot of walking breaks (obviously), which was completely fine.  It might have been helpful to bring some gatorade along with me for some extra calories and a boost of energy, but I really just wanted to enjoy the run.  And I did!


I'm going to wait until we do some short-term planning at church before I decide if I can actually run the race in September, but it's fun to think about!  I'm not a hard-core racer, but it's fun a couple of times a year.


Plus, you have beautiful views while you train. :)

I'm off from church today, so I had time for a sit down breakfast outside this morning!


Pancakes + Applesauce (with cinnamon).  Yum!

I've got several things I want to get done today, but I'm taking a very low-key approach to them.  One of them includes a walk + stretching, because I am a little sore from yesterday's run!

Have a great Friday!

***

p.s. Does anyone want to run that race with me?

p.p.s. Does anyone else find balance in their life through running?  What are the other ways?

1 comment:

  1. Running = cheap therapy. It keeps me sane. It's easy to tell when I've had a bad day at school, because the treadmill is pumped up to more than my regular job pace, and instead of 6 miles, I might make it 10 miles on the treadmill!

    I usually only run two races a year... 5K on Thanksgiving morning and the PF Changs marathon in January!

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