Fitness lost but life regained.

I've really been getting anxious and grumpy because of my inability to run. Colleagues at work could tell I was in a bad mood, and another friend started calling me "Grumpy". That was my sign.

So I went running this morning after feeling like a turd yesterday. I decided enough was enough, and went to try out my heel, and find out what’s left of my conditioning. (Actually, I said: "Fuck the heel, I have to get out of here.")

I first debated on whether I should drive down to the Austin High School track and run (per my Doctor’s suggestion) on the grass around the inside of the track. I just couldn’t see myself running 16 to 20 laps around that track, so I decided to hit the Greenbelt instead. I made sure no rocks hit my heel directly, running mostly on my toes in the rocky spots.

Karma was ecstatic about me running too, as he no longer was on his own moping around the trails. Nope, this time we weren’t going around the 30 minute loop, which I’m sure he’s gotten tired of. Today we were actually running, and his energy level was way high!

I haven’t run since March 28th, making it a full 25 days.

I’ve been told by different coaches that you start losing your fitness level after 14, so I was curious to not only see if my heel would hold up, but also how I’d feel running.

I decided to run at a faster than normal pace down to the water, and ended up running a new personal record of 13min 14 seconds to get to the dam on Barton Creek. Previously, I’d never beat 17mins. I felt pretty dead when I got to the water, and Karma was feeling the muggy conditions and went in pretty deep to drink water and cool off.

After 5 minutes or so of hanging out and enjoying the slight drizzle that started coming down, I ran back to the car by way of Cedar Mulch. That trail is longer than the way I came, and very hilly.

Outcome?
Keeping the heel off any rocks, showed me that my ankle is weaker than usual, as I’ve been walking very gingerly on my foot the last 3 and a ½ weeks.
The heel didn’t hurt, and although it felt a little bruised, overall it felt great.
Conditioning wise I’ve definitely lost some.
I’m pretty sure I could run an easy 15-18 miles tomorrow if I needed to, but I’ve lost the ability to keep up the speed, and definitely lost my hill climbing abilities. Both of those require higher heart rates, and that’s what’s lacking.

I’m excited though… it’s 6 hours later, and no sign of pain at all. I can’t wait to see how it feels tomorrow morning and 48 hours later.

Total Miles: about 4.5

In case you're wondering... Karma ran like a champ.