Recovery Complete

Early on Saturday morning I set out for the final run of my rebuilding phase, recovering from a (assumed) stress fracture in my right foot. It was a perfect winter morning: the air was crisp but pleasant, the sky a bright cloudless blue, and the sun was shining down. It felt great to end my recovery on such a beautiful morning.

The workout was 30 minutes running followed by 1 minute walking repeated twice and as I began the run I told myself to just take it easy and enjoy the run. I had successfully rebuilt my running after not running a step for two months and I wanted to savor run. However, the idea to “just take it easy” was not to be and I ended up pushing the pace during the run. It was beautiful day and I was excited to end it well. I felt good and I wanted to end it on a run I could be proud of.

I am thankful to be back to running and grateful that my body is healthy again. I was in such a good mood as I ran along the bike trails, waving and saying “Good Morning” to all the runners and walkers I passed. I wanted to stop each one of them and shout, “I’m back…I’m back!” I was tempted to skip and jump up and down and laugh with joy. But I didn’t do any of those things. However, all those people I passed may have been wondering what that short little runner who passed by them was smirking about and I’m sure everyone could see the twinkle in my eye.

I polished off the 5-week long rebuilding phase with a 6.13 mile run in a time of 1:02. As my Garmin beeped off the final seconds, my legs felt tired but strong. They felt like runner’s legs once again.

This morning, Monday morning, I begin the next phase of building up to a marathon with my goal being the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT at the end of May. I’ll be following Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 training program, which is the program I used, quite successfully, for my first marathon nearly two years ago. However, I’ll have to wait to actually start running because the very first day of the training program…is a cross-training day. Tomorrow, tomorrow!

Today’s Daily Dozen:
2.3 mile walk w/ inclines (treadmill), stopped every ten minutes for a set of 15 push-ups
Core workout on stability ball @ lunch hour