The good news is that I had a lot of learned lessons from this weekend. First off, I can NOT run with anyone else. I must run alone. This doesn't mean I can't run in a 5k - as there will be lots of people - but more that I must run individually. I tried to run Sunday morning with my boyfriend's 11 year old in toe. Even though I ADORE her, I kept losing her from my eyeline and had to sideline her at the house while I attempted to make up for a poor running/poor pace/poor form. To no luck. Distraction is death to my running. Plain and simple. Maybe once i'm more experienced this will change, but for now, I must do it alone.
The second learning? When not focused and not paying attention, I get injured. Hence, the sciatic sprain/tweak. My form was messy, I changed my route, went against all the rules I knew I needed to have in place. Result? Pain.
Thirdly, dealing with failure. I felt I may take it hard. That I may beat myself up into oblivion over not completing (for the first time since starting!) one of my C25k sessions. I was really mad with myself. I knew better...so here's what I did.
I shut down the session app. And I simply walked around the block another once or twice, and then ran the last two minutes to the house. When I went in, I did some yoga stretches and decided "today i'm human". I enjoyed 1.5 slices of pizza for lunch with all the fixin's and then a box of chocolate covered raisins at the movies.When we went to dinner I had a big salad and lots of lemon water. I learned to forgive myself. That my friends...was a BIG thing to know how to do. I decided to enjoy the treats and not punish myself for being mortal. And more importantly, if this really will be my lifestyle, then i'm going to have these times of challenge and dissappointment. I did NOT fail Sunday morning, I simply felt dissappointed and vowed to rest my sciatic the rest of that day. When I awoke this morning, it still ached but I vowed to atleast try to run the session over with success. If I couldn't then it would be time to rest it a few days. So I hit the pavement at 6:30 this morning and...
SUCCESS. I not only ran well...but my form, pace and distance (2.5 miles - 60% of it at a run, not walk!) was stronger and better than it ever has been. It doesn't reflect it here, but after mile 1, I came in under 12 minutes at 11.11. (I was in shock!)
I believe because I was so focused on insuring I did not over extend my gait and pace, I found my perfect stride. I literally felt stronger at the end of the session than at the start which has not ever happened to date. It was an incredible morning and the best session I've had. I learned that its important to forgive yourself, to learn how to listen to your body and to let yourself be human.
I plan on giving my sciatic two days off from running and allow for rest. I will be doing some deep stretches to work it out (link to Holly Perkins Youtube station - full of helpful stretches, workouts and tips!) and stay active with my Perkins 360 tone & yoga sessions. When I return to running Thursday morning - I will be stronger and ready for another great run.
My lessons learned from this weekend were critical to the longevity of my success. I hope you will learn from this too...from my lessons learned.
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