Accomplishing A Goal - Running

About 10 years ago I got an injury that changed my running game forever.

I dislocated my patella (kneecap) being an idiot in college and ever since then, my knee has a tendency to feel imbalanced or unstable during certain workouts.

Unfortunately even post injury, it has gone out of place just doing normal activities like walking or squatting down to pick something up. I gave up running immediately after I injured myself and switched to being more of a gym rat.

But even then, putting a lot of pressure or locking out my knees made them feel shaky and swollen.

Then I discovered yoga and my knees never felt better!! The yoga moves strengthened my ligaments and didn’t put pressure on them at all, yet, I still missed running.

Flash back to the last couple of years. Will and I randomly decided to run a marathon (without training - why?!?!) and I had to ice my knees for days and days after the run. Then when I moved back to Florida, it was always so nice outside that I wanted to run short little distances by the water but it never failed to bring back those same pains and instability.

The last time I ran was a half marathon with my boss. About 3/4 of the way in, I heard and felt my knee POP. I yelped in sheer terror as the pain when you kneecap does dislocate is the most intense, fiery pain I’ve ever experience and much like when you dislocate your shoulder, you have to wait for it to go back in or make even more painful steps to get it back in place.

Luckily during this run I was able to not injure myself but I swore to myself that I would never run again.

As the Beibs says, never say never, and the running bug hit me again. My friend wanted to do a short 5k at the end of April with bRUNchrunning, and I agreed. I trained by slowly walking and jogging on the treadmill, taking the RUN/WALK method.

I wanted to prove to myself that even the smallest victory is just that - a victory! And then my family at Adidas sent me a couple of clothes to motivate me to my goal (they know the way to my heart haha!)

Last Sunday I ran the race and was surprised at how well and how long we ran before we started the run/walk method. We were able to chat the whole time and completed the race in AMAZING time! Crossing the finish line was such and amazing accomplishment for me, even if 3.2 miles isn’t that big of deal.

The race even started off scary as my LEGIT FIRST STEP I heard my knee pop. haha I just looked at my friend and was like, great… this isn’t gonna be good. But I persevered and trusted that my body would tell me when to give myself some grace and walk it out.

I wanted to write this post for those who needed a little bit of motivation. Accomplishing a goal is hard work - otherwise goals would be a cake walk. But with a dash of self-grace and a cup of strength, you can do anything! Just put your mind to it and take small steps everyday towards the goal you set.

Below is my treadmill training that I did to prepare for the race:

Obviously I’m not an expert but this is what worked for me. And I’m excited to announce that I even signed up for another 5k this weekend!

2 minute walk

6 minute fast jog

3 minute walk to recover

6 minute mild jog

4 minute walk

4 minute sprint

5 minute walk

3 minute sprint

2 minute cool down

Total 35 minute run - make sure you stretch out after and drink lots of water!