I just ran 30km!
/
Hadn’t planned to run that far… but I did!
And from my current non-existent running base it was a pretty gutsy effort I must say 😊 💪
I wanted to share how it unfolded because I learnt so much and was reminded of a lot of things I ‘knew’ but could do with the reminder of. And for anyone with a marathon or big run coming up, maybe this will help. It’s a big one so sit back 🍿
I haven’t run consistently since becoming a mum. I’ve tried to, but any ‘come-backs’ are short lived. I struggle with the ‘juggle’ but every time I run, it reminds me how much I love it.
I’ve had a sore adductor for the last week or so and haven’t done my sometimes standard few kms every few days, for about 2 weeks. Just haven’t felt like it (which generally means I need it 😉) But last night I was determined to change that.
This morning on our way to childcare I said to James:
Mummy’s going to go for a run after I drop you off. How far should I run?
A really long way - he responded
Okay - I said, I’ll run as far as I can
I set out and sure enough my adductor was sore. I shook my head as I ran with a limp and thought I don’t think it’s going to happen today. But I told myself let’s just get up there to about the 500m mark. And I wondered if it was just tight and maybe after I warmed up it might be okay. So I kept chugging along with no expectations.
The number ‘30’ had come to me last night but it seemed so absurd to think I could possibly run that far. And even more so after the start I’d had. On top of the head ache I’d woken up with. But, I didn’t let myself go to any planned ‘end distance’. I recalled what Jess Trengove said about her race strategy at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games recently - about just ‘ticking off every 5km’. Which I’d forgotten until then was also the strategy I had in my 1st marathon.
And so a few kms in I thought I’d do the same. Let’s turn 30 into 3 x 5km out. I didn’t think about the return distance, I just figured if I could do those 3 x 5km blocks, all I had to do was get home! And heading out was a head wind so there’d be a tail wind on the way home.
So I got to 5km. 1st drink break and stretch. By then my adductor had warmed up. It was still sore but I wasn’t running with a limp anymore. Then my right calf got sore… I used every trick in my book today!
Reiki
Allowing the pain to be there, not resisting it
Switching muscles on / off and thanking them!
Breathing in fresh air / energy and breathing out pain
Recruiting every bit of muscle strength memory within my body from all the training I’ve done over the years to run as far as I could today
Asking the ocean to help heal me as I ran along beside it
Running on the grass in parts to help ground the pain
Mantras and affirmations
MUSIC!
Being fully present in each and every step, not thinking too far ahead
A few side skips and running backwards for a few strides to change up my running position and give my muscles some variation
More frequent breaks to stop and stretch later on
Varying my stride - shorter / longer
Varying speed - for the most part just ‘cruising’, but some quicker spirts to maintain better form
Using my arms to help propel me up hills and to take the load off the legs a little
Qi Gong
Breathing work
Talking to my body
And doing a little fist pump every time my Garmin told me I’d clocked over another km 🥳
Finally, I reached the turn around! 15km! Awesome! Now I just have to get home… I was pretty spent and sore. But I knew I had a tail wind now, and I imagined that carrying me home.
Then all of a sudden my ITB got sore! Right on the turn around, as if it knew. It was feeding into my left knee which was in a fair bit of pain. I’d been here before, that can be a show stopper 😌
I’d told myself earlier ‘we can Uber home anytime, if we need to’. That’s the thing about an out and back course, you can’t cut it short - but the Uber option gave me peace of mind, as much as I didn’t want to take it, it was there. And I was only seconds away from taking it. ITB pain generally doesn’t go away… and this felt like it was really setting in.
I resorted to some short walk breaks to help me reset and even a few side skips and running backwards for a few strides to try change up my running position and give my muscles some variation, and I had more frequent breaks to stop and stretch. I also had spurts of speeding up to maintain better form, and for a short while that worked, until it didn’t ‘)
My knee kept giving me grief. But I just kept going. And kept managing it in the moment with everything I had. I thanked it, sent it love, and said ‘I feel your pain, but NOT today! This isn’t going to stop us!’ Like it had stopped me many times before. I kept going… then my other calf got sore! No surprises there ;) my run would be any physio’s ‘Don’t do it’ recommendation.
I thanked my calf because it took the pain focus off my knee :) Sometimes when we give the pain focus, it gives it energy and it gets worse! My friend and remarkable Kinesiologist Belinda Morris had taught me that. I even tried counting different coloured cars that went past to distract and re-program my mind. And played Spotto by myself 🤣 My knee / ITB continued to linger, but, it wasn’t going to stop me!
The distant spec that marked where my house and finishing line was slowly got closer. I was now inside the last 5km! Both calves now tight as anything. ‘Please don’t tear a muscle’ - I thought 😳
So I really shortened my stride to help nurture my calves, after lengthening it to help manage my ITB earlier. I came up with a mantra ‘one. foot. in. front. of. the. other.’ - on repeat, one word with each stride.
Inside 2km… the count down was on! I was exhausted and my body was hurting… don’t think I was even running in a straight line that last little chapter and I’d lost all form - but that didn’t matter now. The knowing that today I WAS going to get 30 on the clock made pushing through all that, more than worth it. I’ll walk if I have to, but we’re going to do this!!!! (I refer to my body and I as ‘we’ sometimes :)
I had to finish it off by turning back into the head wind for a bit to make up the distance.
Then the final BEEP sounded! 30km! I found a spot on the grass and collapsed into the earth. I just lay there. Looking up at the beautiful blue sky.
An elderly lady walking past wondered if I was okay, until she saw the smile on my face 😇
That run was just what I needed today, and I am immensely proud I found the courage to do it 🙏
I learnt, and was reminded of, so much…
Dream big. But just focus on each step, one at a time, and see how far you get. Pain doesn’t have to stop us. We can always Uber home 😉 And we have an abundance of techniques in our tool kit to help!
When I collected James this afternoon, I couldn’t wait to tell him that Mummy ran as far as she could today! 💓🙏
Today, I reminded myself of The Power of Possibility.