Friday night I started getting a little worried and nervous. Would the knee start hurting during the run? Was I running that many miles too soon? What if I felt tightness? Would I be undoing all the progress I'd made?
Finally I decided to just give it all to God. I said a prayer that He would let me have a pain and injury free run. That He would be with me the entire run no matter what happened. That helped put my mind at ease.
I slept well Friday night. When my alarm went off at 4:25 AM I was ready! I was meeting my friends in downtown near the bay to run. I couldn't wait to run with them since it's been awhile.
The weather wasn't ideal...it was muggy, humid, and hot. Of course the rest of the day it turned cold...it just wasn't that way when we were running.
I started the run slow. I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to run the full 5 miles. I was paying careful attention to the knee. A few times I thought I felt some tightness but then it would go away. So I kept going. Before I knew it I was at mile 2.5 and it was time for me to turn around. I was super jealous because all my friends but one were running 10 miles. So they weren't turning around with me.
I've missed seeing and doing this in the early mornings!
I said goodbye to my friends and headed back. My friend Holly was running 5 miles too so I wasn't alone. So far my knee felt great!
I ended up pulling away from Holly. Her stomach was hurting and she needed to walk. But she understood how important this run was to me and knew I couldn't stop. And I didn't stop. I ran the entire 5 miles....with ZERO PAIN!!!! I was thrilled!!!! And sad when the run had come to an end.
Can you tell I was a little emotional in this picture below??? I know 5 miles is nothing to some of you...and usually it is to me too....but when you haven't been able to run pain free in about a month....5 miles is HUGE!
I was worried the rest of the day the knee may start to hurt. But thankfully it didn't. It felt a little achy but I think that was mostly to running more miles than I'd run in awhile. I was a little sore the next day but it felt amazing!
After the run Holly and I stopped by my favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Loft, to celebrate! I added protein to my favorite cold drink. It was heavenly and the perfect way to celebrate a pain free run!
I have a winner for my BAMR Bands Giveaway! Congratulations Lisa Ngai!!! Send me an email with your mailing address and the BAMR Band you want to mindy@roadrunnergirl.com!
Be sure to check my Instagram today...I will be giving away another BAMR Band!!! :-)
QOTD: What do you like to indulge in after a great run?
