This morning was my first Saturday back with the group and I was excited and nervous. I had three so so runs during the week because of the stress of ending my job and starting the new one. The job is going to be great once I know how to do every thing. But I just have to be patient (and not be so hard on myself) and it is a lot of learn as you go. Luckily it is very similar to my job at the firm in Atlanta that I worked at for three years and so I am not completely in the dark. Just learning how they do things. By Friday once I RELAXED things were going better and I think it'll be a good fit.
Back to this morning. I decided to run with a slower group because I was nervous about my knee and the longest distance I have run since the crisis was 6.5 miles. 9 miles intimidated me. Especially after they told us about the course and how hilly it was and this would be the hardest run of our training. I started out fine with the slower group and by mile 3 I was regretting not running with my usual 10:45 group. We started out on the trails and about mile 3 is when we got in to the hills. Once we got in to the hills I was fine with the slower pace. Ha! We ran up through this gorgeous neighborhood right off the lake but it was steep hills and rolling hills for 3-4 miles!!!! I ran them and felt good but dang...sometimes I think I could have walked faster up them. Lots of gorgeous homes and scenery to look at however.
There were only about 5 people I was running with once we started the hills. One girl was from the 10:30 group who had lost her group when she stopped in the restroom while still on the trails. This was a blessing. The two of us went on up ahead of the others and actually got a good workout for the last 4 miles or so and caught up with my 10:45 group and ended up finishing with them. I was soooo happy and this restored my confidence!!
My knees felt grrrreat during the run but of course my calves were and are tight from the hills. I plan to stretch a lot today and tomorrow. My knee is a now sore and I will ice and rest it until my next run on Monday. I hope I can walk on it tomorrow or I will be so upset. It's not that bad but tomorrow is when if it's f-ed up again it will be hurting. Doing laundry and watching football today so I can keep it elevated/iced etc.
Next weekend is just a 7 mile run and I plan to go back to my regular group. If the knee is okay, I will be just fine. Praying the knee will be okay tomorrow.
As bad as the hills were...they felt amazing afterward and I have a great sense of accomplishment from today even if I was slow. The purpose was to run it and finish it, and I DID IT.
I deserve some WINE.
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