There’s a National day for just about everything so why not running! It’s certainly bittersweet this year for me. It’s been 41 days since I last run. I am feeling much better finally. I’m pain free and walking normally so I decided that in honor of National Running Day I would make today my return to running. I stretched, foam rolled, did some high knees and lunges and out the door I went. I walked for a few minutes to warm up and then I began to jog slowly. I made it about 7 minutes down the road before I noticed some pressure in my heel. It didn’t hurt, but I’m not going to risk re-insuring myself so I turned around and walked home. That’s it for today. Maybe in a couple of days I’ll try again and make it 10 minutes. Maybe not. I am determined to listen to my body. I will continue to take care of myself and treat my injury to heal properly. My post run care includes ice, Motrin, more stretching and rolling.
I forced a smile on the way home, but honestly the conversation inside my head went a little something like this:
Can you believe 6 weeks ago you were running 50+ miles a week? You were training for your 4th marathon. I’m basically starting over again. How will I ever build up the endurance? How long will it take to run without any twinges of injury? When will this end?
It will be an interesting transition from being injured to training again and after today I’m prepared for a long process. The theme of my life right now and my meditation mantra is simply patience.
So Happy National Running Day! Get out there and go for a RUN!!
Aim 
Sorry you have been on such a long running hiatus Aimee – but I agree that it’s best to listen to your body – you’ll get back to where you were in due time! 😀
Remember that game from early high school, “7 minutes in heaven” with some random boy in a closet when you both sat there awkwardly for 7 minutes, and if it was a boy you liked, you hoped he’d kiss you or something? This post made me think you played the grown up married version of 7 minutes in heaven! And heck, 7 minutes is better than zero!
The longest I was ever injured was 5 months one year, and I still remember that first 5k after the injury. No injury pain during that slow, slow race, but a whole new kind of pain of slowly building back up. You’ll get there, you just have to play it smart to know when that is and not rush it. Happy Running Day to you!