Reunited...

...and it felt good for about forty minutes. And then it just hurt. And THEN I remembered why I was supposed to be taking 2 solid weeks off before I went running again. Sore hips, tight calf muscles, quads feeling like bricks, hamstrings in knots...oh body, I am sorry for the trials and tribulations I put you through. I truly, truly am. And while I'm in the business of confessing running sins, I should also add that this wasn't really my first run back. Oops. How did that happen? I went out on Wednesday as well but it almost doesn't count since I only ran for 20 minutes and walked for 40. The run yesterday was a full hour of torture...I mean running. Note to self: if you would like to continue running marathons, half marathons and perhaps even attempt the odd triathlon then you need to rest and recover. Self, please, PLEASE listen to yourself!

Part of the reason I got wooed into hitting the pavement a little sooner than I would have liked is the fact that the weather is simply glorious for running. I repeat, glorious. And I could not resist the temptation of being out there in the beautiful summer weather, getting a bit of a tan and enjoying the river path. Rest assured I have learned my lesson and I am not planning on going running again until next week. Its yoga and only yoga for me until then. And a little part of me just died while typing that...

ANYHOW. Many of you who follow this blog (note that I have an official follower...1 official follower, people! Does that give me cred in the blog world? I would love to have more, hint hint, nudge nudge) have signed up for the Harvest Half marathon which is slated for the first weekend in October. And since the next race is looming in your minds and the distant future, I have fielded many questions regarding what the heck you should be doing with your running right now. The answer, strange as it may be, is this: do nothing. Nothing at all. Run if you want to. Enjoy the weather. Stop and smell the roses and pet the puppies. You are entering a phase in training that I like to call maintenance and the toughest part of this phase is wrapping your head around the idea that you won't be covering the distances that you did in your half training. Your mind will tell you that you need to run further and further, but please, do yourself a huge favour and don't listen to those messages! Your endurance will come back quickly when you start your official training, I promise. You should be running some- a couple or three times a week would be nice, but just enjoy those runs, do them at whatever pace your little heart desires and don't sweat it too much if the busy summer social schedule seems to be interfering with running. You really don't need to be thinking about building up your mileage again until the middle or end of July. So enjoy this time! Jog. Stretch. Relax. Drink a mojito. Even better, drink a summer in a can. There is plenty of time to get it together for your next race.

And on that note I would like everyone to pause and send a load of positive healing energy to my dear sister who is running the Manitoba full in just 2 short weeks. Sadly, she has developed an injury to her shin which is in turn affecting her achilles tendon and her knee. Come on marathon Gods! Let's get this lady up and running again please!

Now I should work. Really.

P.S.- My toes are not good. Not good at all. In fact, I kind of hoped that they would fall off so I could just start over. Gross.