My first post of my "running journal" will not yet be a recap of the Disney Marathon, but instead be about my "punishment run". I probably shouldn't call it a redemption run- it wasn't outstanding or anything like that. I am not fast. I might not even be average. I only measure against myself when it comes to running. So "fast" for me might not be fast for anyone else.
Needless to say, I was not thrilled about my marathon on January 8th. I know I should have been thrilled just to have trained for it, run it and crossed the finish line! I should have been smiling, happy and proud! It was quite a journey that I barely had time for, but in the end, I was not feeling very celebratory. I had hoped I would at least tie my PR (is that even fair to call it a PR when it happened 10 years, one husband and two babies ago?).
Anyway, I took most of the week off. I ran the marathon recovering from bronchitis and some other respiratory issues (carried the inhaler for the journey). On top of that I had popped something in my rib area, or tore a muscle or something obscenely painful in that area and redisturbed that injury around mile 17. So, it was time for a little break. I ran 3 miles on Wednesday. Then, on Saturday I set out with no plan. And by "set out" I mean I hit the treadmill at the gym, planning on a few easy miles. Here is the run recap:
Miles 1-3 @ 9:22 min mile
Mile 4 @ 9:13 min mile (this is when I started rethinking all of my marathon failures)
Mile 5 @ 8:57 min mile
Mile 6 @ 8:49 min mile
Mile 7 @ 8:34 min mile
Mile 8 @ 9:30 min mile (cool down)
That's might be an easy run for someone else. For me, those miles under 9 minutes just 6 days after the marathon were not easy. Not really hard - but definitely made me sweat a little- particularly mile 7. I felt like I got a little less angry after that run. I felt like I reminded myself that I am capable of running faster than I did at Disney. It was a good run.
On Sunday, I ran another 6 miles. I went out fast (oh, flashback to the marathon!) and lost my juice at mile 4. It was outside and it was beautiful and I didn't care. I was not training for anything. I was just plain running.
Somehow we fit in two 3 mile walks with the double strollers (one of which had a pitstop at Ben and Jerry's for an ice cream treat!)--- so I hit the 12 mile mark on Sunday which was nice.
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