A Walk in the Park

Adventure Sunday! What should we do? How about a walk in the park?

Some of you know I run. I'm a runner. I have not run in a long time (since April) due to injury. Today, I went for a walk with my run buddy Mary. She is a badass runner herself. Why a walk and not a run? Well for a few reasons:

1) Scared to hurt myself

2) I have not run since April 

3) Scared to hurt myself

I have been the queen of running injuries. I had hammie issues then I had a lovely case of Achilles Tendinitis. Most recently, and this has plagued me for a while, I have hip issues. My right hip slides just enough to make my right leg longer than the other. It also causes quite a bit of pain. My chiropractor and I talked and discussed the importance of strengthen my hip muscles to help with the sliding issue. That brings me to today.

Queen of injuries

Today, I went for my first walk in a long time. A real walk. A 3 mile walk around beautiful Hugh McRae park with awesome company. Hugh McRae park is perfect for runners and walkers with its 1.5 mile outside loop and a shorter inner loop.Two laps went quick! It seems we were not the only ones thinking it was a good day for a walk in the park. People were out with dogs, friends, and kids running, walking and playing. The turtles were out in full force sunbathing too! It helps it was not 100 degrees with 90% humidity. 

Sunbather

Sunbather

At the end of the walk, I felt a little tight in the hammies, but nothing bad. Felt a little tight in the hips, but again, nothing bad. Next time, I may try a few short runs during the walk to test it out. What is important to note is I listened to my body. I can't stress how important that is. 

When starting to run, or running after coming off injury, start slow and listen to your body. If you go out too fast too soon, you can risk hurting yourself again, maybe even hurting yourself worse! Nobody wants that. So, try a walk, then power walk. THEN add some short 30 second runs with 1-2 minutes of walk for recovery. Keep this up and then increase your run time and decrease your walk time. That is just what I intend to do. Finally, cross train. On non-run days, add some strength training. It makes a huge difference.

For my cool down (yes there was one after a walk) I took some pictures of the beautiful park to share with you. There is an area that is a park within a park. It is my favorite part of the park. There is a beautiful lake full of fish and turtles. There are also a million dragonflies (one was even red! Never saw one of those before!) Hope you enjoy the adventure. I know I did!