Learning from Setbacks

Today I woke up with my legs extremely sore from squats I had done a couple days ago (more sore than yesterday for some reason), but I wanted to run so I took to Google to see if it was bad to run with sore legs. Like everything with exercise, the opinion was decidedly split; some people said it provided no benefit, some said it helped relieve the legs, some said it can lead to injury. Overall, I felt confident that my legs could handle a run despite being sore, and if they couldn’t, I was going to switch to an elliptical machine.

I attempted to run my 5K again, and I hoped to at least beat my previous best time of 31:30, if not reach my goal of 30:00. Despite my sore muscles holding up fairly well during the run, I did not improve my time: I finished at 32:30, and my shins were again killing me and I was also out of breath. To reach my goal, I need to continue getting into better shape and giving my shins more time to heal between runs. Despite failing to increase my time, I refuse to let this discourage me because I know I can continue working on it and finding ways to improve myself and my time. I may need to use an elliptical more to get into better running shape instead of putting so much strain on my shins and legs while I attempt to improve my fitness. My body may be trying to tell me that it is not yet ready to endure such a pounding from running.

My gym is closed on Friday for Good Friday and Sunday for Easter, so even though I was sore, I wanted to get a run in today. Even though today was a disappointment, I see it as a learning experience and I will use it to strengthen me. I will lift on Saturday (looking forward to that!), and likely take tomorrow (Friday) off, while I might try a run outside on Sunday, or else I might take Sunday off as well to give my legs more time to heal. On my off days, I will still incorporate long dog walks in the park into my workout regimen, so I can at least get some cardiovascular exercise. The possibility of running on Sunday depends how I feel because I don’t want to push it if I’m not ready, but I would like to see how a distance run outside compares to one on the treadmill. I don’t have much experience running outside, but my brother (who is an experienced distance runner as well as a medical doctor) believes that running outside would be easier on my shins because some people have a tendency to lean forward while running on the treadmill, thereby applying extra pressure to the shins. So I look forward to attempting to run outside, but it will be difficult to gauge my time and pace without a treadmill. Again, that will not be until Sunday if it happens at all. My body deserves a good rest tomorrow before I get back at it on Saturday.