Easing Back In

After a week of a nasty cold, I was itching to get back to workouts again. I know I jumped back into training too fast. I mean, 4 workouts in 1 day? C'mon. Hence, the cold. Is it possible for me to ease back into it gently? I know I should; why is it so hard to restrain myself?

Saturday, I went for a gentle bike ride on the 56-bike path...solo. I was so tempted to join a group ride but I knew I would push myself too hard and ride too long. It had been over a week since I had been back in the saddle. I kept it to 20, kept it simple, and it was glorious. I felt sooooo good. I jumped out of the saddle for every climb and eagerly tackled the headwind as I pedaled west. I relished the heat emanating from my core, the sweat pouring from my forehead, the burning in my quads, the blinding sun forcing my eyes to squint, even the bumps in the road causing my arse to chafe. It just felt so good. I felt so...alive. Ah, the first ride back.

Sunday, I met a group of running buds for an 8-mile run in Penasquitos Canyon. It was 37-degrees when we started (the high reached 79 later that day). I took it easy on the uphills and enjoyed the quick-foot-shuffle action as I danced over, through, around, and about crevices and rocks on the trails. Trail running is absolutely the best. I quickly fell into a rhythm. My mind quieted and all tension left my body. Running is my meditation. It's when I'm completely at peace. I felt like I could keep running forever. Towards the end, I struggled a bit to ignore the pain in my hips. Afterwards, my knees complained bitterly. "You haven't run in a week and your first run back you do a hilly, rocky 8-mile trail run? WTF!" they whined. "Shhhh," I replied, popping 2 Advil to silence them. They screamed at me again later as I ran 1-mile and walked another with Alec to practice for his 1-mile run next week. "More running? Everyone else is home taking a nap by now, and you're out running more!" Amazingly, my knees felt better as we walked, the soreness working through the joints and out my feet. I had a good nap that afternoon and slept like a baby last night. This morning, I'm sore. Whoops. I guess I could have run forever yesterday but I sure do pay for it the day after!