First Run, Post Injury

Went for a run this morning – a pretty big thing. I’ve been avoiding any kind of strenuous activity related to my back for a while. Though I’ve felt improved and ahve wanted to run, I’ve held back.

Today though, Liz and I set out together for a quick 30 minute run. And in some ways it went well, and in many other ways it did not go well.

Expectation wise? I was thinking I’d run the whole 30 minutes nonstop, just slowly. This, after pretty much not running for several months now. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but clearly I had the bar way too high.

Liz convinced me we should take an incremental approach: 3 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. So we set off, moving our legs and bodies for the first time in several months.

A lot of things happened: I started to struggle with 3 minutes, and had to have us drop down to 2 minutes. I started to feel an ache in my back (but it was due to normal running aches, and not due to me re-injuring myself).

I forgot about the unpleasant feelings with running, particularly with that first mile. Particularly with that first run, after you’ve not been running a while.

As a running partner, I also realized I’m no good right now. A lot of my frustration and feelings stem from expectations that I’m setting on myself. And I need time to readjust my head, readjust what I am expecting in terms of outcomes. I need to reset myself to think of running as a process, and not as an outcome-based task.

And I need to work all this out by myself, with myself… before I can be someone who is remotely pleasant to be around, while running.

I’m glad we went running today, and look forward to resuming this activity. I can’t believe that, at some point last year, I was actually running 10k with some degree of regularity. And right now? I can’t make 3 minutes without needing to walk.

I’m confident I’ll get back to where I was. I’m confident I’ll enjoy running again. I just need to get past these initial hurdles – the physical unpleasantness at the start, the process of acclimating to some degree of discomfort. I’m confident I’l remember that I actually like running.

I just need a little time.

Related:

Struggle Run
Back Pain and Pain Management
Lower Back MRI
Back Issues
First Run with New Shoes