A soon as the race was over……my desire to run quickly faded away for a while. I was (and still am) flying high from the experience. I LOVE how the good feelings are still surrounding me. When I called my Mom in Florida and was talking to her about the race…..I jokingly said “It’s kinda like childbirth. You’re glad you did it….but ya kinda don’t want to do it again for a while.” LOL
Yet as the days pass, I’m beginning to miss running. Peter and I drove to ShopRite today to pick up a few things, and the drive over there was right along the course of my typical Sunday long runs. I pouted a bit and told Peter, “It’s weird that I’m not going to be out there tomorrow.” Sorry llama farm…I’ll miss you for a while!! It’s necessary that I take a short break from running. I’ve been experiencing some pain in my right foot, and turns out I have a small stress fracture. It hurts most right across the top of my foot when I first get out of bed. It’s painful enough that I pull back from stepping on it and putting weight on it, but once I’m moving around it feels OK. Once I have my sneakers on, it feels even better. I think the structure of the shoe does it a world of good. Well….some R&R is the doctor’s orders. There’s nothing to do for it, but to let it heal by taking a few weeks off from running. I’m going to convert over to riding my bike for a week or two, and then ease back into running a mile or two a day. I want to ensure I maintain the base I have built so far. I don’t want to lose any of the muscle or strength I’ve built so far. I have plans, you see…but sometimes the plan calls for rest. So I’m back to my mantra “Do what Today requires of Me”, and Today requires that I rest my foot. Yes, Sir. Consider it done.
With this in mind, I’m setting myself up to keep careful control over my food choices this week. I have to remember that I won’t be earning all the Activity Points this week as in prior weeks, where I might earn 50-60 APs a week from all the running. Today was Weight Watchers weigh-in day, and I was down 2.8 pounds. Hooray! Moving in the right direction. I’m re-committed to losing 20-30 pounds this year if possible. I’m not going to ride myself if it doesn’t happen. But I like stating the goal, so it’s out there, in my line of vision. The goal now has my attention and my direction — so it won’t float freely in the wind like a “Nice To Have”. Losing 20-30 pounds this year is important now. I see now with my foot experience, that any weight I can drop between now and my 2013 Marathon goal — is a huge advantage to me. Gotta get some pounds off to relieve the strain and pressure on my body. It’s gonna be Hard, but Hard isn’t the 4-letter word that scares me anymore. Quit and Fail and Wimp are the words I’m going to avoid.
I might dig out my Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD. I really liked that DVD. I don’t think I ever made it past day 7. It was alot to do every night in addition to the running. Back then, I didn’t think I had the strength to do both. I want to get back to it. I was actually building little bicep muscles from the pushups…..and that was cool. A NEW experience for a Couch Potato. You don’t build little bicep muscles moving chips out of a bowl to your mouth on the couch. Go Figure.
It’s nice to have time to do other things now. It’s Weird though. Once you get used to a daily running regimen, I know now that once it’s gone….you grow to miss it. Who woulda figured that! I think it’s a clear indication that I’m a Runner, for sure. Runners Run…..and it feels weird when you don’t. I feel weird. And that makes me smile, ALOT.
Ciao for now……Diane