I made a decision on whether I am going to continue running or not.
I went on a 5K walk last Tuesday and thought. Up to that point, I really did not know how to get back to where I had been, and I felt like my fitness level was slipping. I had not had a positive run in almost a month. I felt it slipping through my fingers, but couldn’t stop it. I was missing something, but didn’t know what.
I appreciated the comments left on the blog post, and the encouraging e-mails readers sent me. When I read one though, it clicked because I realized I had no plan, no course of action, and no structure to what I have been doing.
The advice I had been reading in various articles all say to let shin splints heal, and the “get back out there.” It doesn’t say how to do that. What do you do in the meantime? How do you keep your fitness level up? How do you keep your breathing and pacing? How do “get back out there” again, without getting injured?
Not knowing how to do this was causing me so much frustration and was causing me to lose confidence. After I read a message from my friend, who gave me some great ideas on how to actually “get back out there,” I felt excited again. I felt like I finally had a plan and some ideas that would work.
One of the suggestions was I walk. I walk fast while my shins are healing and I can work on breathing and pacing at the same time. I decided to try walking the 5K distance.
While I was walking, things came together. I found a great stride, and I found my breathing and pacing working together again. One of the things my friend said was I had to “rest and rebuild.” I thought about that while I was walking in the second mile.
I knew deep down, rest and rebuild was what I had to do, but I was afraid. I was afraid while I was resting I would slip so far back, there wouldn’t be much left to rebuild with.
In the third mile, I realized my breathing was heavy. Walking fast is work and it is fitness. I also had no shin pain and no cramps. I knew then I could rebuild and comeback. The fear was gone. I checked my time when I was finished and I walked the 3.2 miles in 39 minutes. This was faster than I had been able to run this distance when I was starting out.
On Saturday, I went for another 5K walk, before arctic weather moved in. It had snowed and there was a lot of ice on the sidewalks. I am getting over bronchitis, so I had to be careful and breathe differently.
I found my pacing and stride immediately. It felt like I was almost running, but I wasn’t. I had no shin pain, and no cramps. I forgot about time, and running, and just had fun and enjoyed my walk. I hadn’t felt that good- that confident, in a month.
After the walk, I checked my time, and I had done the 5K distance in 35 minutes. Four minutes faster than on Tuesday, and faster than my finishing time in my first 5K running race.
I have to continue to rest and rebuild, which is hard- I’m going to have more challenges. But as my friend pointed out, and as I have begun to discover, it is the foundation where you heal, learn, and gain confidence.
I don’t know how long it will take before I can start running again. But I’m not going to give it up. Rest and rebuild isn’t the end, but the begining.