Return of the Saturday Long Runs

It's Saturday!

I have been texting with N all week promising that I was going to get back into this thing called running. I even promised her I would show up for the group run this morning at 6:15am. Well, that was before all the spicy Mexican food and margaritas last night. And before I stayed up till midnight before hitting the sack. My husband asked me before I headed to bed last night if I was going to get up for the run. My response: "I'll set the alarm." Ha. I did. But then I immediately turned it off this morning and went back to sleep.

That is until N called. Then I figured I had to get up and at least show my face. I rushed to get clothes on and had my Click drink on the way. We showed up just in time. Turns out 2 of my other buddies were running this morning too, so it gave me a little extra pep in my step. I didn't really know what I was capable of doing since it was my first long run back and my knee has been giving me trouble this week, but I knew I could always walk.

I felt great! The weather was just perfectly cool and sunny (once the sun came up anyway) and I realized how much I missed seeing the town overrun by runners so early in the morning. I ran the whole way with my marathon training partner and we took the time to catch up on our lives since our respective marathons. We even finished with negative splits and I definately feel that we could have continued running. But, one must take it slow after a month off.

I spoke with the "tree docs" after the run (one of the perks of running with the group) about my knee. After their quick assessment, they said it was probably just too much pressure on my knee and I should stay off the roads and work on building the muscles back up in my quads and hamstrings. As long as I stick to the track or treadmill and their softer surfaces I should be fine (along with icing and stretching).  So I guess it's not sympathy pains for the Hubby's knee after all, but at least it's not as bad of a diagnosis as his.

Happy Running!