Going mini part 2

Saturday, April 20th

Friday night had me really feeling that morning run-

My calves seemed to seize up

All I could think about was foam rolling,
But honestly, all I could think about was how painful foam rolling would be on top of the pain from the minimal shoe run

Wow! This was intense-
My hubby kept saying
"You need to be careful- you don't want to injure yourself"

Now- before you all say
"I told you so- I told you, you needed transition slowly"
Let me just say-
"yes- I knew better"
And
Some things have to be learned the hard way

I wasn't letting this insane calf cramping keep me from running over the weekend-
Is there really anything better than a shake out run for muscle tightness anyway?

What I really wanted was another run with friends-
Saturdays are perfect for this, but lately schedules both running and non- have gotten in the way.

If its not kids wrestling
It's
Kids baseball
Or
Hubby's work schedule
Or
Mileage/pace differences
Etc
Etc
Etc

Well, RunningMamaOf2 was having none of it- by hook or by crook we were doing a run- or at least meeting at the beginning of one, and running a mile or two together, then branching out on our own from there.

By the way, if you're in the area, and want to get on the list to get notifications of these last minute run meet-ups-
private message me-
we'll put you down, so you can be in 'the know' and start joining us!
We're having to get creative, to accommodate mileage and pace, but there's nothing more fun than knowing you're not alone on a run!

So
Saturday run is on
But when I put my feet on the ground the that morning,
WOW-
Still crazy intense calf tightness
Like my heel is nailed to the floor
My foot does not want to flex to the ball of my foot, even when walking.
I shuffle around the house with this crazy Frankenstein heel shuffle, trying to get geared up, wondering if I should txt the girls to go on without my crippled self.

Then I figure-Why not-
Why not just buck up and meet them at least for a high five and a smile as they blow past my slow self
Up and out, I decide on a warm up walk to our meeting spot, rather than jog or run.

I wore my Brooks Ghosts- to cushion my run, and baby those calves-

It proves to be a good choice-

And soon I see the girls heading my way.

The run is on!

First 5 minutes I try to match their pace
Well, maybe first 3 minutes- haha

According to my garmin-
They were running a steady 9.3to 10 minute pace-

My average really sits at 11.45

Don't get me wrong- I really -really like that 9:3-10 pace-
sustainably just hasn't arrived yet

Soon I drop my pace.

**********

You know what I'm loving right now?
I'm loving that I'm past the self consciousness of pace.

I used to be terribly self conscious about being slower than my peers- heck, slower than that 80 year old speeding past me-

Now that I'm coming up on a year of this whole running adventure-
I've seen my pace gradually increase,
And run higher and higher mileage more easily
I'm finding patience with my pace- trusting the work of training to bring results.

This is MAJOR for me, and it feels great
Nothing like being able to be honest with where you are
And realize that your best is different than someone else's and be fine with that.

**********

So I drop my pace-
BlueSkyGirl surprises me and drops back too

For the next 4 miles she runs/walks with me.
Well, walks quite a bit with me-
My calves were screaming

As we near the corner that brings us back to the start- they talk of adding in a mile or two-
BlueSkyGirl is adding 9 more miles to hers for her training run goal of 13 for the day.

I know I'm done and spent

I turn and head toward home
But not before I stop and snap a photo of the plum trees on the boulevard in full bloom.

One thing's for sure
I'm foam rolling tonight-

So does that mean I'm anti- minimal?
Nope
Very intrigued
I'm thinking of all those hurting muscles that somehow aren't getting used.
How else could you account for the knotty soreness other than that?

Yep-
Going to run tomorrow too
Keep you posted-

Oh- and I have to brag
BlueSkyGirl's total time for her 13 miles, was wicked fast
Even with those first four slow miles with me-
Whoop! Whoop!