back in the saddle

Even before running the Colonel By Classic 8k race, I had decided that upon completing the run, I would take a little time off of running in order to hoefully rest my nagging hamstring and ankle (which I now have been told is actually a hip problem) issues. Two days post-race, the Sisson family met up with new friends the Robbins family and my running friend Robin for a morning at the Farm. We went up to Wakefield and introduced our offspring to the wonders of barns, horses (in their cases, ponies) and tractors. Both Caroline and I were THRILLED to bits at how much our children enjoyed the pony riding and how brave the kids all were when it came to being on a moving beast. (sidenote - for all my riding experience, Caroline has much, much more. She used to be a jockey - helping train the 2 year olds before they headed to the racetracks... sigh - if only!) Once the kiddos started complaining of hungry tummies, the girls hopped on our own horses to go on a trail ride while the others had a picnic lunch. It was AWESOME to LITERALLY be back in the saddle again. I think I had a permanent smile for the next 2 days.

Not only did I have a permanent smile, but I also felt leg muscles I think I forgot I had. ;-)

THEN the allergies and cold set in. Lucky for me, even with Mark having a nasty cold the week before, I seemed to escape without it until AFTER the run was done. Once it did hit though, it really REALLY sucked. Even today, I am still coughing a ton from being short of breath!

This past Tuesday, it was time for me to get back to running. I had had enough with the excuse of being sick and stuffed up and coughing and just needed to run. I had begun to notice a change in my attitude - noticing how quick I was to snap at my kids and my husband and knew my lack of activity (more specifically, my lack of producing endorphins) was begining to show.

I made sure to get out for a nice "quick" run that evening and felt boatloads better afterwards. I also had a major revelation... I am at a point that I now think of 4.4k as a "quick and short run". HOW COOL IS THAT??????

Yesterday evening, I went out again. This time, with April, who has not run in about 6 weeks. I mapped us out a short 3.65k loop and went out looking forward to enjoying the company. I didn't care that we didn't make it up the hill, or that we had to walk on more than one occassion. I was SUPER proud of April for coming out and getting it done after such a long time off. Another revelation - it is not the distance or the speed that you run, but the ENJOYMENT you feel when you are doing it that matters most.

Looking forward to another fun run with friends tomorrow at lunch time!