I’m linking up with the ladies of Tuesdays on the Run! Check out other great bloggers on the linkup: Patty, from My No Guilt Life, Erika from MCM Mama Runs and Marcia from Marcia’s Healthy Slice!
This week’s Tuesday on the Run is a self reflection of my running past. We’re thinking about something that I would’ve done differently or something that I wish I could do over. As I think back on my running career, there is one major thing that sticks out that I would’ve done differently…
I wish I would’ve started training with intervals from the beginning. I didn’t start adding intervals, or using the Jeff Galloway method, until I had to for my WDW Marathon training. In the meantime, I had dealt with injuries that kept me from reaching my fullest potential.
I had a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis that didn’t start feeling better until I cut back my pace and added intervals. I can’t help but to wonder If I could’ve prevented a stress injury, like that, if I had trained with intervals from the beginning. My Podiatrist told me, “You might as well run intervals before the race decides it for you”. Those words just stick with me and I’ve been an interval runner ever since.
I would tell a new runner to play with intervals too. You can still run fast and do speed work, but adding the walking intervals is so much easier on your body and prevents injury. I’m a curvy runner that sometimes runs with too many “Mickey Bars” on me. I need to be easy on my joints!
Now that I’ve taken a break during my pregnancy, from running, I plan to start back with small intervals of 30:30. I can adjust as I need to for days I’m feeling better or worse as my body recovers from the delivery.
To me, that’s the beauty of Jeff Galloway’s method. It isn’t black or white and two extremes. It’s about doing what feels right for your body so you can keep running injury free. Because my goal is to never stop running! I want to run until I’m 100.
Tell me: Do you have something that you regret about your running?