My God, I Think I Found It!

Found what? My running mojo, that's what! I was reviewing my running log last night (well, early this morning). And I was wondering what the heck happened. I haven't run consistently since some time in 2009. Then I took 10 weeks off due to injury. I started back slowing going "barefoot." I went to Miami. Caught the flu on the way back. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the flu in my recap. Told you I'd forget something. Anyway, I caught the flu at the very end of March, like the 29th or 30th. I spent about a week or so laid up. So yeah, the beginning of April was not productive in the least bit. I ran once after, and it was horrible. Got lightheaded and everything.

Then not too long after that, like the following week, I had some type of stomach thing going on where I couldn't keep any food in me. I guess it was stomach flu gone wild. That lasted over a week, close to two. I was absolutely miserable. I love food and couldn't enjoy any of it. I was limited to yogurt, apple sauce, rice and other blandness. Then I would get hard headed and eat something normal like an orange. And then pay for it within minutes. That's another couple of weeks of no running.

Okay, so that's over with. I'd run and I'd hate it. My cardio was all jacked up. I got turned off. I felt like all my runs would be crap, so I didn't run. In the meantime, I've been dubbed Yoga Queen, so that's good. That reminds me, last week I DID A HEADSTAND! I was not against a wall or a door. I had no help. I was alone in the middle of my living room floor. Pretty soon, I'll be balancing all of my body weight on just my fingertips ;) Ha! Is that even possible?

Anyway, back to what I was saying...RUNNING. I haven't been doing it. But now I want to. I've had a couple good runs. I've got a new "barefoot" approach. I've got a new mindset. I've got some goals. I want to develop my own plan. And I don't want it to feel like a chore. When it feels like work, that's when I shut down. I don't like that. So no pressure. No races on the calender. No training runs that MUST get done. No running back to back days, unless the weather dictates otherwise. No running more than 4 days a week. Honestly, I just want to keep it at 3 days (a medium run, a fast short run, and a slower long run). I operate better with a rest day in between anyway. Then maybe, once I'm back to running like a well oiled machine, I'll consider a race. Most likely, it will be a half. I prefer longer distances. I ran a 5k once and hated every minute of it. However, 10ks are pretty decent.

As far as my own plan goes, I'm trying to get into the habit of taking my resting heart rate in the morning. I just started yesterday. It was 57. Today was 56. I will be monitoring my RHR so I know when to workout and when to rest. Elevated RHR could mean I'm over-training or I'm getting sick. Either way, it's a good indication of when I should sit my butt down. I think this will be a better approach instead of going by some program made up by someone who has no idea how I feel. I gotta do what's best for me. I've been injured one too many times. And I'm not going down that road again. If my body says no via elevated RHR, irritated head of fibula, hip or IT band, headache, or whatever else that causes me to run in pain, I'm going to listen to it. Damn what the plan says. It's not worth it.

So ladies and gentlemen, that's where I am right now. The I'm-Gonna-Run-When-And-How-The-Heck-I-Want-To Plan starts this week. Wish me luck.