Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Taking a Break



In an effort to allow my shin splits and other running aches/pains to dissipate before our backpacking trip (which, for the sake of privacy and theft avoidance we'll just say is "upcoming") I took a break from running. Well, I tried to take a break. I suffered through a 6 a.m. trail run last Tuesday with Lynn and Elissa (not really suffered...it was pleasant once I got over the fact that it was 6 a.m.) and then called a Time Out.

The reason for my Time Out was because I noticed that weight was making my shins hurt more. When I carried my bike downstairs, my shins, which hadn't twinged for days, hurt. When I carried in what must've been 25 lbs of groceries or something, they hurt. So it stood to reason that carrying a 25-30 lb backpack might make them hurt...I wasn't sure, but I also wasn't taking any chances. So, no running. I took 3 days off completely: No running, no hiking, no nothing. Saturday I went out for an early morning hike (wearing the trail runners of course) but it was so hot and the trail so bumpy that I didn't really attempt more than 5 minutes of running. I enjoyed the hike and was able to actually look around at my surroundings instead of straight at the ground!

Sunday I biked Rustler's Loop. Sure it's only about a 45-50 minute ride, but that's enough to get your heart pumping fast and put a grin on your face! I had work to do or else I would have ridden longer. Today I was grumpy. Well, if I'm being honest I was grumpy all weekend, except for when I was biking. I finally had had enough. Still not really willing to risk our trip, I headed home at lunch for a 20 minute walk/run. Hey, 20 minutes was all I had and it was better than nothing!

I really did feel better. Even just 11 minutes of running interspersed with walking felt great. After our trip I'll come back and get started training again for the first of two half marathons: The Mount Sneffels Half Marathon. If you check out the route map, on the hand-drawn map you can click on each mile marker to see what the area looks like there. It's beautiful! I'm SO lucky to get to go run this 13.1 miles...even if I'm next-to-last I won't care because I'll have spent 2+ hours jogging, walking, huffing and puffing, in this beautiful stretch of Colorado. At the end, I hope Lynn and I look like this:


But I"ll probably look more like this:

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