Back To Running

In my last monthly recap, I mentioned I started running again, after taking a few months break. I’m now three and a half weeks in the new program, and I felt a bit of an urge to write a bit about how it has been, what am I feeling, and whether or not I want to continue.

At the beginning of the year, I started running by following the Couch to 5K program. A few months after, I finished the program and I decided to take a break, for a few reasons. But mostly because I was having some knee pain, especially when walking stairs.

In addition, we were going to go to Japan a few weeks after, and Japan is known for their stairs, so I really did not want to have a busted knee while there. The vacation went well, I felt the knee a bit towards the end, but nothing that was not manageable.

Since then, I have been putting off running, because, put simply, I’m afraid of what might happen. Afraid of re-injuring my Achilles and that the knee pain would come back. Either way, I decided to start again by following the same plan.

However, after looking at the plan again, I still felt that the last few weeks progressed too fast, so I took a look at what was available on the Internet, and I found a modified version of the plan. This modified plan stretches the original plan for two more weeks, making the progression a bit slower.

I’m now on week 4, and I don’t have much to say, besides that it is going well. Week 4 is the last week that is exactly the same as the original plan. From week 5 onwards, it will be a bit different. So I think that’s good: if there’s not a lot to say, it’s probably not bad. And sometimes I get very nice views in the park depending on the current weather conditions!

I’ve just completed the second run of week 4 and I noticed that, in comparison to the same run of the same week a few months ago, I am faster and yet my heart rate is slower. That is good, I think. My cardio condition has definitely improved.

I still want to to try going slower. My goal is not to run fast, but to be able to withstand running for longer periods. I need to turn on the pace functionality on the watch so that I get notified if I’m going too fast. Besides running, I’m also doing some strength training two days a week and some lighter stretches on the other two days.

Is running for me? I don’t know. I like the idea, but if I get knee pain towards the later weeks again, I have to reconsider: what is causing the pain? Is there something I can do? Or should I just look into something else?

I started running because of my wrist injury, which meant I had to stop kickboxing. I really enjoyed kickboxing, so I want to eventually do it again. At the time, I was also waiting for my swimming lessons, which never came. But that’s also something I enjoy: swimming, if it weren’t for the depth. Maybe taking swimming lessons again and overcoming that fear would be a good option to go.

Who knows? So many things, so many plans. For now, I want to continue this plan to the end and see where it leads me. I will also add “overcoming fear of deep water” to my impossible list. Maybe that’ll make it more motivational for me!