Last night I ran for the first time I ran in almost two weeks. I tried running the next step, week 3, of
Couch to 5K and did it!!! I am so amazingly happy for myself! I didn't give up and let the little bit of pain in my back get to me. And I my total distance added up to about 2 miles! It was a struggle, don't get me wrong, but I did it!
It felt really nice to run again, I never thought I would say this, but I missed it.
So here's what I've learned about running/myself so far:
1. Stretching is important (Duh).
- I'm really bad at wanting to just by pass the stretches an get on the treadmill, but with my knee and shin splints, I have to make sure I do it before and after.
2. I don't run well to music. Weird right? I like to think and music kinda stops that from happening or I ignore the music and get frustrated with ear buds.
3. I have to have some kind of video going while on the treadmill so I can look at something. Being able to hear isn't so important (See #2).
4. One of the best tips I've received was from my old running buddy. When breathing, inhale two steps and exhale three. She explained it a lot better, but it helps to not breath with your heart rate, so you're not hyperventilating by the end of your run. It took me a while to be able to do it for the whole work out, but now I can do it the entire run. It's helped my chest not to burn and now that I'm in the habit, I can catch my breath a lot faster.
5. Chewing gum is a great trick to not need to drink bottles and bottles of water during one run.
6. I make funny noises by the end of the run, and that's ok!
7. Wrap the string that's attached to the treadmill key somewhere where you don't pull the key away.... Yeah... I did that twice last night...
8. Don't give in to excuses to not run, unless it will hurt your body.
I still am in the Love-Hate relationship with running, but it's growing on me.
I know how boring reading a blog can be without pictures, so I'm going to try to take more pictures.
