EAT, PRAY, RUN, REPEAT

Today I put on my running necklace with the above words on it. I strapped on my Garmin heart rate monitor, laced up my running shoes and put out the perfect BondiBand for my run. I picked out my purple band with a turtle that says "wanna race?" as it matched perfectly with my purple t-shirt; which also had a turtle on it with the words, "I am running" across the front. The advice of those that came before me rang in my ears.

"Nice and easy." "Don't want to re-injure yourself." "Slow and steady wins the race." I was more than curious as to how this run was going to play out. The only plan I had when I reached the door was to finish. I would jog. I would walk. I would listen to my body... Er, my feet.

I took one last look at my necklace... I would definitely be doing a lot of praying during the next X amount of miles or minutes I could survive. I walked out of the door and felt the fresh air. It was sixty four degrees with a light breeze. Knowing that I was going to be in this weather RUNNING, put a smile on my face. I began to lift my feet to start my run, "OUCH"! I had gone back to boot camp this morning. I lost track of how many squats I did. This was going to be tough. Just having enough strength to lift my legs was taking so much effort. I laughed out loud (luckily there were neighbors outside) and thought "this is going to be 'fun'". I felt as though I was shuffling, and not the "Everyday We're Shufflin'" type of shuffling. The "are my feet even getting off the ground?" type of shuffling. I had to do something because if these darn feet didn't get up, I would be tripping FOR SURE! I made it to the corner of our subdivision and decided I needed a plan. Yes, Captain Obvious at your service yet again!

I shot for one minute running, two minutes recovery. That was boring so I then decided I was going to run until I couldn't and then take a minute to recover. After a mile, I gave myself two minutes to recover. I had to stop a few times to stretch and limped just a tad, but I FINISHED! I did two miles. Two real miles... If I am going to get specific, which I am, it was 2.02 miles.

I learned three things during this run:

1. Two miles is too far for my foot at this time.
2. Limit the squats when I am planning on running on the same day.
3. I realized just how much I missed running in our neighborhood.

Today's mileage: 2.02
Total time: 32:21
Average pace: 16:01 (hey, at least I was out there)