Back in the Game!

After a fairly dreadful start to the week, I have definitely finished on a high. I developed a nasty sore throat/cough/migraine combination which, coupled with my poorly knee left me unable to exercise at all. I think it was my body's way of telling me to chill out for a few days and not rush back into things; rendering me almost unconscious for a few days certainly did the trick.

I won't lie, I was absolutely dreading my first run back (I haven't been out for almost two weeks). I tried lying to myself and feigning excitement but I knew that those two weeks would pretty much take me back to the beginning, which was utterly soul destroying. The first couple of weeks are the hardest. Well, they were for me - I had no rhythm or sense of improvement, but I did have bucket-loads of enthusiasm, which I tried to muster before heading out.

I had to force myself out of the door when my alarm went off at 7am - only the knowledge that more people would see me breathlessly stumbling around if I waited until 8am spurred me on. I had already decided that 3k would be plenty for a first visit back - 5k was too ambitious and I didn't want to beat myself up for not hitting target. It was really tough but the .5k markers on my Nike+ really helped, as did my route, which was slightly downhill on the way back. I made 3.23k in 18'14. 

I was pretty stunned when I converted everything to miles - I'd run two miles, averaging 9'04 per mile. No wonder I couldn't breathe - my previous PB for a mile was 9'29. So I felt pretty smug. I'm sure that if I'd pushed for the extra mile my average would've dropped to way past my PB time, but as a first jaunt out after two weeks of feeing like I'd just been dug up, I was very happy.

Lesson learnt - allow your body adequate time to rest. So, while I was itching to get out this morning, I am now allowing myself a rest day every other day. On these days, I'm working on strength by doing the 100 Push Up and 200 Sit Up Challenges. I was able to start on week three of the Sit Up Challenge, but have the upper body strength of a flaccid octopus, so began the Push Up element firmly on week one. 10 push ups is excruciating, so if I can do 100 in a row after just six weeks I'll be very happy (and surprised). I have added a Squat Challenge into this, which is the same as the sit ups, along with 200 cross body punches in squat position. It burns like a bitch.

 Tomorrow, we are heading over to Bolton Abbey so I can do some interval training (as recommended by the lovely Mira). Hopefully there won't be too many people around to laugh at me attempting to sprint up a hill - must remember my mantra; dead last finish beats did not finish, which trumps did not start. Least I'll be working for my big, fat Mother's Day lunch :-)

Sam x