Running My Tuchis Off In Tel Aviv

Posted by Ms. Babble

August 7, 2008

I’ve had great progress this week on my runs in preparation for the Nike Human Race 10k. (I promise not to turn this blog into a “runners log” but it’s worth mentioning here and there, right?)

On Sunday and Monday I ran my usual 4 km (2.5 mi) route along the sea. I used Google Earth to mark my start and finish points to get a close approximation of the distance. It helps quite a bit knowing exactly how far you’re running. Previously, I’d simply run until I didn’t feel like running anymore. As it turned out, I was running just shy of that 4 km mark.

Sunday was a breeze but Monday was painful. After the first mile, I felt the hamstring of my left leg strain. (There was an unusually high amount of people on the boardwalk that day and I found myself jutting between them more than usual.) I finished the last mile and a half but was disappointed that I didn’t get any further. After a LONG stretching session, I hobbled my way back and vowed to take the next day off from running. That night in the shower, I panicked a little when I could barely lift my leg to get into the tub.

After stretching the next morning and again at night, my leg was feeling 90% better. (BIG sigh of relief) There was a moment when I thought my goal to run the marathon at the end of the month was squashed before it barely started.

After a full day of resting my legs, I ran the next evening. I didn’t go with the intention of pushing myself any further than my usual route during this first week but once I started running, I couldn’t stop! After the first mile, I noticed that my breathing was extremely shallow and I felt no desire to gasp for breath. I experimented with my breathing a little and found that I could simply breathe through my nose if I wanted. It was great progress!

I stopped after 6 km (3.7 mi) because my muscles were starting to feel loopy which tells me that I’ll need to throw in some strength training to my work out schedule.

Say hello to my strength training playground: