Sometimes something comes along and kicks your butt. That thing for me this time around was Crystal. Her friend wasn't able to make it to the Toronto Marathon 5K which she had registered for and Coco (Crystal, same person) asked me if I would be her companion on the race. I replied to the text in a very sleepy state that I would. When I awoke and was rational, I realized that I hadn't run in 5.5 months. NO PROOOOOBLEM (!). So I had to start running again then and there. Well not then and there, that day though.
It was interesting starting over. I've gained a substantial amount of weight. So it takes more effort and I am significantly slower. I did have a lot of moments where I was reminded of why I enjoyed running. The first run I literally kept begging my body to remember what running 5 Km felt like. I ran a lot in the 10 days leading up to the race to just get my body used to running the distance. It took its toll and I was sore but it was just a short term solution for the quickly impending race. My goal for the race was 40 minutes and to run the whole thing. Run, using the term loosely.
That's another thing, although I was reminded of how much I LOVE running (I have a growing affection for my 5AM sunrise run) it was frustrating. I am slower, MUCH slower, a whole minute slower in my pace time. In addition I've got my injury to consider. My body moves differently to compensate for my ankle and my hip has become an issue, especially on uphills (which again, I enjoy, or I should say enjoyed...). It gets really sore. It prolly doesn't help that I'm lugging around more weight either.
One thing that has not changed is my distaste for running in the rain and my fellow Ontarians will attest- It's been hella rainy of late. So, it was on race day too. the race was pretty terrible. I was slower than my last race and I didn't do it in 40. The 2nd half was uphill and it really affected my hip. I did it though. I now have a benchmark again. In November I am aiming to do a 10K.
Why I enjoy getting up at 5AM
