Running
I’ve always been athletic. From the time I was six my mom started me in as many sports as she could but it wasn’t until my senior year in high school that the cross country coach convinced me to try running.
In four months time, I ran farther and faster than I could ever have imagined; I was hooked. At this point in life, running was fun and social! I was soon recruited into a Division I college, Belmont University, with only one season of running under my belt.
I went from running 9:00 min miles to 7:30min miles.
I went from running 3-5 miles a day to 6-9 miles a day.
(Still with the blob on top of my head, I know)
The team was up at 6:30AM, 2-3 days a week in order to pound out “two-a-days.” I went from doing one workout a week (a workout being a threshold or hard repeats) to doing two workouts a week.
By my senior year, my times improved drastically and I moved up the ranks to become the team anchor. Here is what a typical week looked like for a me in college:
Sunday – off
Monday – AM 3-4 mi easy
PM 5-7 miles moderate + strides
Tuesday – AM 3-4 mi easy
PM Hard repeats + strides + strength
Wednesday – AM 3-4mi easy
PM 5-7 mi moderate +strides
Thursday – PM 6-8 mi moderate
Friday – PM Threshold 6-7 mi total + strides + strength
Saturday – AM 10-14mi moderate
Here are some of myPRs:
800m – 2:25
The mile – 5:09
5K – 17:45
1/2 Marathon – 1:28
At first, collegiate running was a way to connect with other runners, enjoy competition, and have fun. But after four years, I became obsessed. I ate, lived, and breathed running. My food revolved around running, my wake-sleep cycle revolved around running, and my only friends were runners.
So after graduation, I had a hard time transitioning from “collegiate athlete” to “regular runner.” I continued to train as hard as I did in college even though it was impractical. My job as a Surgical-Trauma ICU nurse had me running on my feet 3 days a week which forced me to rest those days. Thus, my training was random and I ran harder on my days off. This resulted in injury.
In college, I was blessed to only experience a few minor stress reactions. I owe this fact to rest days were built into our week and after each season . Rest is crucial to an athlete. It was built into my schedule in college but I neglected to properly build it into my post-collegiate schedule.
Since I continued training at the same strenuous pace without proper rest days, I noticed a twinge in my right groin/pelvic region which I ignored for a year and thus it morphed into an angry, inflamed, tendon deep within my pelvis. I tried to cut back my mileage, decrease the intensity of my workouts, but it was too late. Finally, I was forced to stop running; for THREE months, I did not run.
Turns out, the injury was a blessing. The time that was once dedicated to training was re-prioritized. I spent time strengthening my relationship with Christ, building new relationships through my church and small group, enjoying my husband as a newlywed, and finding joy in cooking!
After building slowly with proper REST, I am able to run again. The key to my recovery? BALANCE.
I encourage anyone with an injury to channel that energy somewhere else! Maybe you’ll discover a new talent or a new friend; discover another part of you. And while I’ll probably never be the runner I once was, I’m OK with it. At this point in my life I run not only for the physical health and wellness but to pray, breath, reflect, and celebrate living!
yay!
Races post-injury!
Turkey-Trot 10K – November 2010
The Frizzy Baker 
Awesome. I forgot how freaking fast you were. But it’s not like running 8:30 pace for 9 miles is a snail’s pace. 😉
Glad you can look back on your running experience and appreciate it for what it was and recognize that it’s in the past. You are not defined by how fast you can run a mile. 🙂
It was a good lesson learned! and I’m happy to be back out there enjoying it all! Good job on your 5k btw! You are a speed demon as well. It’s genetic 😉
Ps: I laughed when I saw the pic of you wearing those little Nike shorts! 😉
So proud of my girls in everything they do in life.
Love this running page! I can definitely relate…gotta catch up on your blog posts!
Thanks!