Ah Life: you do tend to get in the way sometimes don't you? No, I haven't stopped running. I can't do that. I would be so disappointed in myself if I quit. The whole point in my embarking in the C25K program was to prove to myself that I could triumph over my own mind and actually accomplish something that I would normally give up on.
My struggles appeared, though, several weeks ago and, believe it or not, had nothing to do with my own motivation, but instead just working run time into a suddenly busy schedule due to a family emergency. Once I was able to say "it'd be better if we delay this run (or that run)" I was suddenly unable to stop "rescheduling" runs to suit my own needs. It all started out with the best of intentions but then spiraled out of control. The worst was when I waited 4 days in between W7D1 and D2. That was one rough run (though I still completed it without walking).
BUT, we finished up W7 day before yesterday. That was not without it's own complications. I was motivated to run, but not very excited about it! My body had different plans than my mind though: about 10 minutes into the run I got my first-ever shin splint. I didn't pay much attention at first, it just felt weird so I kept running, then the pain started, gradually getting worse. I let out a cry and grabbed for Wino's shoulder for support, but still kept running. Then the paid subsided, until 2 minutes later when I got another pulse of pain. I slowed down, ran through it and it went away. This continued until our 25 minutes were up, I was determined not to stop running (I couldn't tell whether I was just trying to subconsciously sabotage my own run, or if this was legit pain).
I got my answer when I got into the house and the searing pain didn't stop, I checked all the symptoms and yep, I had a shin splint AND because I was running funny when the pain hit, I also messed up my knee. Brilliant! That's what I get for being stubborn. I have a 5K race in about a month and I still have 2 weeks left of C25K (that's 6 runs people!) and I need to finish this, I don't want to be set back! So, I'm going to wait this out (no! I'm not going to keep running in pain, that's just stupid), but the minute (THE MINUTE, I SAY!) that this pain subsides, I'm hitting the pavement again.
So I'm going to be out of commission for who knows how long, but I'm not going to let this stop me. I'm running for my sisters, for myself, for Wino, for anyone who has encouraged me, and I don't want to disappoint.
