Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Comeback

I’ve got my busy-face on this week. But never fear, I have priorities, and we all know that blogging is one of them! (It comes right after running and eating and reading. So now you know.)

First of all I want to say, don’t judge yesterday’s cake by its slightly-overly-crispy appearance. It was delicious and you should definitely make it ASAP.

I also want you to know that I came into very close contact with Alex Trebek and two top secret wild animals today! So that was unique. (More about that later, once it's not secret anymore.)

And now onto more important things. Running. Love it. And now I’m back to actually doing it on a regular basis.

But there are certain strategies to follow when coming back from a long absence from running:

- The first and by far the most important is do not do to much too quickly. (This one kills me.) After time off I’m so excited to get back on the roads…back to my modus opperandi of choice: running every day. And thanks to extensive cross training, I’m actually able to run pretty solid distances. But just because I can doesn’t mean I should. Over-enthusiasm can turn into a re-injury rull fast. So start by taking it easy. Be cautious. I’m doing 20 minutes every other day for 3 weeks. Because (fingers crossed!) I'm hoping that's the ease-back-in that I need to get me working out and racing again.

- Run slow. Just like running too long, running too fast can put unnecessary strain on muscles not used to it. So I'm running about a minute per mile slower than what my normal pace would be.

- Be cautious, but don’t be afraid. People are meant to run, and running is not designed to hurt us. Check out this RW article about fear and comebacks.

- Remember you’re not alone. Almost all runners have gone through rough patches, so don’t get discouraged with a seemingly slow comeback. Think of Paula Radcliffe, or Meb Keflezighi, or Kara Goucher. Whether you're an average joe-slow or a super-speedster, everyone can stage a comeback!

And I'm certainly planning on it! I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about me not running...just as I'm tired of not running. So here's to taking it easy and making a comeback - stronger, faster, and tougher than ever before!

Here's a link to an article about "Coming Back Strong."

And another good "Comeback" article.