Here goes, following my cough, cold and broken toe

[vixiej]

Yesterday I did a short cycle ride, only 30 minutes because I picked a 'bad' route, too many hills for first time out in ages and considering I'm still coughing and sneezing. I did feel better afterwards though and my toe seems to be manageable, so I'm going for a little exploratory run, to see how my body is coping.

I was going to run for as long as I felt I can and then push for a couple more minutes, but I am thinking I should perhaps do the interval training from one of the earlier weeks. I'll decide during the warm up walk, as that will give me some clue as to how I'm feeling.

Either way, I'm not going to jump straight back in to the beginning of W7, as I don't want to 'fail' with any of the podcasts. If my toe (and lungs) hold up, I'll be able to start running again in earnest by the weekend, fingers crossed!

[gdeann Graduate]

Oh, oh...you wrote that F word! I think you are wise in your approach. Fingers crossed you can start again this weekend! GOOD LUCK!

[Pelephant Graduate]

Hmm I'm trying to decide if the f word is allowed if it is in speech marks. It's almost like saying 'here is a word lots of people use' but no I am going to be strict today and say that the word 'F*IL' is not allowed even in speech marks.

[vixiej Graduate]

ha ha, sorry, I won't use it again!

I'm delighted to say that I SUCCEEDED in having a great run. In fact, I did a brisk 10 minute warm up to the park and then ran for 25 minutes. I must admit that I didn't expect to run for that long, I set myself an initial target of 10 minutes, but when I got to 6 minutes I then didn't look at my watch again until I was over 11 minutes of running, so reset goal to 20 minutes telling myself that if I could make 20 then it would be foolish to not keep going to 25 unless I was dropping to the floor with exhaustion. I did quite a slow jog for most of it, just sprinting for the last 20 seconds, which gave me a HUGE extra buzz. It does show that a week off, even for illness, doesn't necessarily have a bad impact on your overall fitness, especially if you pace yourself

When I slowed down to a brisk walk, I noticed my toe It feels ok now, though, so I don't think I've done any harm to it.

I treated myself to a lovely brunch when I got home too (after shower), lovely smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and some nice brown bread washed down with 1/2 pint of milk, yummy. Then I crashed out on the sofa for 30 minutes to let the protein start doing its stuff, LOL

[smhall Graduate]

Superb, vixiej!!! I think that your approach to your return to running was spot on!! Our bodies tell us what they can handle if we are willing to listen!! Sometimes, we underestimate what our bodies are capable of!! Welcome back!! Keep Running!!

[vixiej Graduate in reply to smhall]

Thanks! Totally agree, I do yoga also, which is good training for self awareness, physical and mental.