A Sore One...

My latest run wasn't one that I would put down as one of my top 5 efforts...

In fact, I would characterize it as one that "needs to be OVER!"

I knew Wednesday night would be a tough run. To begin with, I have been dealing with aches and pains since Sunday. Last weekend I put in a lot of extra effort at the gym - including more "weights" than I typically work out with.

So each day has been a struggle. Sunday night was just one big struggle to sleep - my muscles were screaming at me! While each day has become a bit easier, I was still sore in spots last night.

Second, I haven't run since Sunday. I had to move my Tuesday run to Wednesday, which was an "off day" for me. Why? Well, that leads to the next reason...

Finally, I was coming off of a Happy Hour. Yikes! There are times when we have colleagues who come into town from other offices. When this happens, we are expected to "entertain" them... which sometimes leads to a long evening. And my friends, that was what happened on my Tuesday night.

So will all of these factors, I knew:

1. It was going to be tough.
2. I had to push through it.

Fortunately, I'm on a "rest week" and only had to do 3 miles. When I arrived, my recent blog about the crowds diminishing was blown out the window. Every crossramp machine was taken, as were the ellipticals. So I knew the 1 treadmill that was available would have to accomplish both "warmup" and "execution."

I walked for the first half mile to get my bones and muscles moving (about 10 minutes), and then picked up the pace. The first mile was just bad. I couldn't find my rhythm, and could tell my breathing wasn't steady.

Mile 2 got a bit easier. I was running faster and started to focus on staying busy with incline work. So I'd run at an incline for a quarter mile, then take a quarter mile break (zero incline)... and then repeat the process.

Mile 3 was much of the same, but I decided to increase the speed at quicker intervals. Doing so caused me to really sweat. However, I knew this was good for me. I ended with a 10-minute pace and an incline of 4.0.

I decided to walk an additional half mile because the crossramps were still occupied... "Where did all of these people come from???" When I stepped off the treadmill, it hit me - a sharp pain to be exact! My lower back was feeling it... nothing serious... just one of those, "Hey jerk! It's been a while since you've run!"

Ah... so is this what they mean by listening to your body?