The New Normal

I have been humbled by my desire and training efforts to return to half marathon racing.  What once came so naturally now feels quite challenging and sometimes not even within my reach.  Thankfully, I am making progress and as I’ve said before, slow and steady wins the race.

I started a training schedule a few weeks ago.  I run four times a week and each week slightly increase distance.  While a good training schedule calls for long runs, speed work, hills and recovery (which the one I’m following does), right now I’m focused on frequency and distance vs. speed or hill repeats. I had not followed any consistent routine or ran longer distances since injuring my hamstring until now.

I’ve had my ups and downs during the first few weeks.  Some runs have felt great and my pace reflects that.  Some runs have felt awful to the point I’ve stopped and walked instead.  Sometimes my leg is very sore afterwards and the next day.  I’ve stretched more consistently and frequently than ever before so it’s frustrating to continue to feel like something isn’t right.  I’m so nervous to push it too hard as I don’t want to reinjure it and spend more time not achieving what I’ve set out to do.  But again, other times it feels fine so I think what I’m doing is right.  Is this the new normal for me?

It certainly helps me appreciate all of the races I’ve done.  It also makes me look forward to new races to compete in.  This past week I reached a milestone in my training.  I ran a very solid six miles.  It’s the first time I’ve run that distance in a long time.  That distance used to feel like a breeze (if six miles ever can) but it’s taken me months to build up to it.  Part of me is frustrated to think it could take that long to now double it (and I’ll still need an extra mile to finish my half) but I’m in it to complete my goal.  I may not set a PR and my leg still may hurt a little but I know with hard work, focus and dedication, I can do it.

How have you overcome setbacks in training, exercise or life?  Was it harder or easier than you anticipated?  What steps did you have to take in order to get back on track?  Did you need help from others in order to get there?  I could a motivational push or two so feel free to share what worked and what didn’t for you.  Let me know what inspires you to see your goals through to the finish.

Miss FitGab