The Beginning of Something
It takes an average of 2,000 steps to complete one mile (less or more depending on pace). That means there are about 52,400 steps required to finish a marathon. Ironically, it’s not the 25,000th or 50,000th step that’s the hardest. It’s not even the final step that’s the most challenging. It’s the first one.
During the past week, I began taking my first steps again. After four months of no running due to pregnancy, child birth and recovery, starting all over again is not easy. It doesn’t matter how fast or fit I’ve been in the past. I’m back at ground zero as a starting point. And guess what? The path back starts with a single step.
I took small strides and slow steps, but it’s the beginning of something: The beginning of my running comeback to finish a strong half marathon this fall.
Here’s what my past 10 days of training looked like, which included 10 total running miles:
Saturday, 2/18: AM: 3 miles: Ran 1.5 miles without stopping, walked for 2 minutes, ran another half-mile and then walked the rest of the way home for a total of three miles. This was my first run since October! My run miles were 11:05 and 10:48 pace.
PM: 4 miles: Walked 4 sunset miles with my mom and Baby rUnladylike along the water.
Sunday, 2/19: N/A
Monday, 2/20: AM: 1-hour barre; PM: Walked 2.4 miles with Baby rUnladylike in the stroller
Tuesday, 2/21: N/A
Wednesday, 2/22: 4 miles: Walked a half-mile warm up, ran two miles, walked the rest of the time until I reached 4 miles
On Wednesday, I also had lunch with one of my best running pals Beth from Discombobulated Running to celebrate her birthday. I can’t wait until I’m back in shape to run with her again. She is running the Myrtle Beach Marathon on March 4!
Thursday, 2/23: 5 miles on the elliptical machine
Friday, 2/24: AM: Ran 3 miles: 2 miles continuous, walked for several minutes, ran the last mile continuously (9:49, 10:11, 10:28); PM: Met a friend with a baby the same age as Baby rUnladylike to walk 3 stroller miles around the neighborhood
Friday evening, I went to the Gasparilla Distance Classic race expo with my dad to pick up his packet for the next day’s race. It was an amazing expo.
Saturday, 2/25: Walked 3 miles with Baby rUnladylike in the stroller to spectate at the Gasparilla Distance Classic. My dad ran the 5K so it was Baby rUnladylike’s first race as a spectator.
Sunday, 2/26: 5 miles: 3 miles running and 2 miles walking on the treadmill with two walk breaks during the run (pace was around 10:10)
How did your training go last week? Tell me about your best workout of the week!
Comments
Nice job! Seems like a solid week for coming back to running! And baby runladylike looks adorable in that stroller photo! I miss the days when they would stay in the stroller for walking 3-4 miles…now mine want to walk on their own mostly (at 1.5 and 3.5) so we only make it a mile, sometimes 2.
I did not run at all last week M-F – the sickness hit our household! But I did manage to make to to Barre before I got sick and after, and did some Yoga at home one night, and went for some walks with the kids to get some fresh air and take advantage of the nice weather we were having. So I did get some workouts in at least 🙂
I’m sorry to hear you guys were sick at your house!!! I hope you are all starting to feel better this week! xo
I know you are coming back and those paces don’t seem impressive for you, but they paces I’d love to hit someday. Your comeback seems pretty solid and I know you will get back and probably be stronger for it.
Your discussion at the start about the first step is so, so true. You are doing so well in getting back to running! Bella is so adorable in her runladylike onesie!