running regroup recap & being over 40

Hollah! Its Friday! Woot!

Was that too much? I find I never know how to start a blog entry so thought I'd start with a rush of "it's Friday, let's celebrate!". This post is mainly about running and life as I know it as a fitness seeking over 40 female.

So, I ran yesterday. The knee was feeling better, and although I swore I wouldn't run until Saturday...I just couldn't wait. I mean, if it felt like the cap was falling off I would have made myself wait, but since it felt "ok" I went. The intention was to run 1 mile. Just 1 to test out the aches and pains I was feeling. At the very start of the run I realized I was screwing up my normally pretty good form because I was so scared of the knee popping with pain. I had my compression socks on and pulled them up high around the knees as a way of offering more support. With that thought I got brave and tried to not alter my run and but just go slow. And slow I went...10:45 roughly for the mile. Totally disheartening to think about it since less than two weeks ago I ran an under 10min mile in the St Pats 5K. BUT as soon as I could let that negativity sink into my runner brain, I realized I was running without knee pain and when the start of a second mile approached...I EMBRACED IT! Screw pace, screw time, screw it all...I was just happy to run. The first mile and very start of the second was in fact uncomforable. No painful, no particular ache or pain. The left knee felt better, but then the right knee flared with some pain, then that let up and my right shin started to burn, then that let up and my left hip started to ache. It was RIDICULOUS. My entire lower body seemed to be out of alignment. I had little stabs of aching here, there and everywhere. But by mile 1.5, everything started to warm up and felt good. Really good. And that's when I started to breathe again. For whatever reason, my body was outta whack, but clearly, running was not the cause. Enter...the being over 40 part of this post...(i apologize for the brutal honesty of the rest of this post...so hold on!).

I am 43 years old. And yes, I often forget this little fact. I forget that I am prone to things that I was not prone to at age 33 or 23. When I started this journey last July, it was because I started to experience over 40 perimenopause symptoms. Including a lot of retention of fluid in my legs, ankles and feet. And as a "petite" person, who never had experienced anything like that, I freaked out. Seriously. Started crying and everything - had no idea what my body was doing after it had always been so well behaved (fast metabolism, and a weight that barely hit 100 at 5ft tall). And that's when I decided to show my body who the boss was - hence fitness, eating right and running. What I did NOT realize is that as much as you fight it, sometimes, it will STILL win. Maybe not the war, but its going to win some battles. This past week, I realize, it won. I had forgotten that last summer, I also experienced severe aches and pains in my legs that accompanied the water retention. It occurred to me yesterday, that what I was feeling (pain wise) was EXACTLY what I had experienced right before I waged war to own my health. I also noticed just yesterday, that I could do that wonderful little trick where you press on your shin and the water retention can be measured by how big a dent it leaves. Well, the dent was pretty big yesterday.

"Ugh." I thought.

"Over 40." I said outloud staring in the mirror.

"Ugh." I thought again.

So, in this realization I discovered that most of these aches and pains are "over 40, PMS, perimenopause, pain in my ass" symptoms. I do believe the knees were aggravated by the Jillian work out intensity last week so I'm returning to my old standby Holly Perkins Fitness for impactful, but slower paced workouts. My calorie burn comes from my running and it seems to do the job. I admire Holly's approach because for someone such as myself, I just don't need to go so hard core (though believe me, I sweat just from her 10 minute tank top arm workout on fitsugar!). So turns out I'm a bit more fragile than I realized and my over 40 body will still scream out, even through all the health and wellness ways. My focus will be on weight training more than mountain climbers and plank jumping jacks.

I plan on getting my 3.1 miles in tomorrow. I registered for the Anywhere5k virtual 5k. No doubt the pace will NOT be impressive, but after worrying that I couldn't run, all I care about (atleast right now) is that I CAN run. And that I can own my body, even through the pain in my ass perimenopause symptoms.

Have a great weekend all and I'll be sure to report back at the end of the weekend!

PS Here are a bunch of links I loved today!

• Calorie Counts & Nutritional info on foods (super helpful &easy to use!)
• 12 Incredible Running Blogs to Follow!
• Runner Stretches! I am putting this link here mostly for me (ha!) as a reminder that I need to STRETCH before and after a run. I so slack at this!

And in honor of the challenges, obstacles and bumps in the road...I share one of my most favorite songs "Comeback" by Redlight King. In fact, it shocks me I do not have it on my run song list yet!!!