Making some changes

Today I ran my first race of the year. It was a virtual 5k hosted by Licorice and Olives

I ran on the canal behind our house since it's a bit more cushioned than the road or sidewalk and I'm still dealing with an IT band injury. (which could result in a dr visit)

I wrapped up & set off.

While running I (like most people) was in deep thought. My leg/knee started hurting at about 1 mile. The pain came and went but it was a constant worry. I kept picturing a horror scene in my mind of hearing a snap and me falling to the ground. I'm a stubborn person and I know that now more than ever. I'm pretty competitive too. Stubborn & competitive do not go well with an injury. I finished in a decent time. Not my best and not a PR  but I ran my heart out. Once I was finished I could barely walk. I had to walk almost a mile back to the house since I finished at the end of the canal. I'm in a good amount of pain right now.

(after having my phone for about 4 months we finally learned how to do a screenshot)


So, after a lot of thinking I decided to take a break from running. I know this will hurt my goal of running 14 races this year, BUT, with an injury like this, it would be impossible to run any race. I barely  made it through 3 miles today. I'm going to look up other ways to exercise (safely) and possibly dust off my bike. I have a love for running and that will never change, so I'll be back at it one day. I don't feel like a failure in any way. I just need to listen to my body for once and let it heal.

I am also going to be making some changes to this blog. It's time to get real with my readers and myself. I am still on a journey to loving myself and becoming a happier, healthier version of me. I hope you'll stick with me for the ride and offer advice and encouragement. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to help someone going through something similar. I'll be updating my "about me" section and possibly upgrading to my own website.