I'm a Runner - Chapter Six

I'm Sore
Glowing in the bliss of my first 5K I decided that I was going to run the half-marathon the next spring. So I decided to get serious with my training. I was majorly sore after that first race, so after a week or so to heal up, I went for my first training run. My goal? Beat my marathon time!

It was majorly hot that first week in the middle of May. "Good!" I thought. "This will take the pounds off!"

It took something off for sure. Now I had read countless articles about running in the heat and hydration and all that stuff. But this was just 3 miles and I had run that all spring in training. They used to call it sun stroke, I believe. The word dehydration is another descriptor.

Another way of putting it is "the death of my mini dreams." Combine the blazing summer heat with a busy, busy schedule and the recovery time from dehydration and my goal went to "I think I'll run another 5K next year and start training in the spring again."

So I followed that pattern for two more years. Call it seasonal running. Or hobby running. Or sporatic fits of fitness.

But this past spring, just like the drug user, I found that now the 5K was not giving me quite the high it first did. Even with my somewhat inconsistent training schedule, I was gaining a level of fitness and experience that now meant that I wasn't even sore the day after the race. Time for a new challenge.

So this summer, with care and wisdom, and heeding the advice of the experts on increasing your running distance, I started on the goal of upping my mileage. I'll share that saga of what I did and the piece of advice I ignored in my next post.

NEWS FLASH!
This weekend Laurie will run in the Louisville Marathon. 26.2 miles on a flat, fast course. She hopes to qualify for Boston.