After a several-week self-imposed running hiatus, I finally got back on track yesterday. Or to be more specific, I got back on the treadmill. As much as I was hoping this time around to become an outdoor runner, I am just too wary of a potentially recurring injury to hit the street any time soon. It's important to me to keep active so that I can get fit, and if I have to keep benching myself because of injuries and pain, obviously I need to find a better way to achieve my goal.
I was actually impressed with how much "savings" my body had done in terms of preserving my fitness and all that from when I last ran. Yesterday I did 5 minutes walking (warm up), 20 minutes running (at 4 mph), and then 5 minutes walking cool down. I wasn't sure that I could run for a whole 20 minutes (given that I barely managed to do 3 minutes running outside, and back in my more distant treadmill days, I generally topped out around 25 minutes as it was), but I told myself I would run until the countdown timer said I had 10 minutes left, and could then take a break if I needed. Instead, I pushed myself for the last five minutes, so that I did make it for the whole 20 minutes.
I felt really good about myself afterwards, and not just because I ran for 20 minutes non-stop. When I was at my best on the treadmill, I could maybe run at 4.5 mph tops (and not for the entire time), so starting at 4.0 mph and not having it be colossally painful (or impossible) felt pretty good in my book. Also, I did a program on the treadmill called "forest walk", which introduces incline shifts throughout your 30 min run, which enhances the difficulty. Tony said he was impressed to see I got up to an incline of 3; to be honest, I noted that the treadmill claimed the incline was changing, but I never noticed a difference! I guess the one good side to running on all those hills outside (or just outside in general, where nothing is completely flat), is that the treadmill really does feel so much easier! I never played with the incline before, so that's another way in which I've improved as a runner.
Clearly my goals for running on the treadmill will have to be different than those I held for myself outside (clearly the time spent running is not going to be something I shoot for). Ultimately I would like to be able to run for 30 minutes straight, which I think I'm pretty close to achieving - 20 minutes felt good yesterday, but I expect to be running for 30 minutes in 2 weeks time, if not sooner. Once I hit that, I will then focus on upping my running speed (and therefore distance). Right now I will keep things steady at 4 mph, but my goal is to eventually advance to running a 10 minute mile, meaning I will need to hit a running speed of 6 mph.
So, I guess my new running goals are:
1) Increase overall running time to 30 minutes (4 mph)
2) Run 1 10-minute mile (hit running speed of 6 mph)
3) Run 2 10-minute miles
4) Run 3 10-minute miles (run at 6 mph for full 30 minute)
I think these follow a logical enough progression that I will be able to tailor my routine to meet them each in turn. I will likely need to have mini-goals in between, but for now, I'll focus on hitting Goal 1, and then take it from there.
Oh, and best of all - even though running on the treadmill isn't for everyone, at no point during my run did I feel any pain in my left shin! That's enough to convince me that treadmill running is the way I need to go for the next while.
3 comments:
Hey Steph,
I'm glad to hear that treadmill running didn't cause any pain in the calf! But regardless, i'd really recommend going to see a sportsmed doctor or a physio (especially a cute one!) to ascertain what the problem was/is, and how to fix it. Even if you choose to stick to the treadmill indefinitely over running outdoors, it's still something that you should definitely sort out. Hopefully they'll give you some stretches and a strengthening routine and that'll be that! ;)
taryn
ps: i can't WAIT until Megan's family (sister, brother-in-law, 3- and 5-yr olds) get the hell outta here today; they make SOOO much noise. Seriously: how can two kids who are so small stomp so loudly?? grrr.
Welcome back to running! I think that you have some fantastic running goals! I finally got to run outside yesterday and it was complete bliss, so I guess what I need to keep my mojo. Good luck, friend!
Mary actually mentioned a good shin strengthening exercise that I try to remember to do: try to write the alphabet (upper and lower case) in the air using your big toe. It's easy enough to do while sitting down watching tv, and apparently works wonders.
Ironically, when I first started running outside, it was always my calves that killed me, so I thought they were weak. Mary says that if I focus too much on strengthening them, they can actually contribute to my pain by ripping the shin muscle backwards! Eep!
As I said, for now, I'm going to stick to treadmill running, but once we get to the new condo, there's the big park (Centennial) just across the street, so we might try running there instead (or alternate between the two). If that's the case, I'll be sure to talk to a doctor beforehand... provided I can afford to! Stupid U.S. healthcare system... or rather "health""care" system!
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