Monday, February 3, 2014

Why Did I Stop?


So, it has been awhile. A good long while. Almost a year or so?


I bet you're wondering (if any readers are still out there) where I have been? 
Or why I stopped blogging and interacting with the running community here in the blogosphere?

Those are valid questions, my friends. 

The long answer is this: I got engaged at Disney in February of last year and have been devoting a lot of time to wedding planning. I also got accepted into graduate school and so most of my free time is spent reading and doing homework assignments. I also was promoted at work to a position where I work a lot of crazy hours. On top of that, I was in a car accident in November and then ended up having emergency gallbladder surgery right before the holidays in December. 



The short answer to your questions: I stopped running. After the Disney Princess Half, I did a few 5k fun runs, but I didn't have anything serious lined up and so I stopped running. Looking back on it, it makes me sad because running made me so happy. I don't know why I stopped, but I did and it stinks. 


I want to get back into running, but I know it is going to be tough - almost like starting over from the beginning again. My body is still in the recovery/healing stages from my surgery. The doctor said I can only do some light jogging and weight lifting for now. Maybe in a few weeks I will be able to do more, but I have to go slow. I don't generally like to share this fact about myself, but I can be a rather impatient person (shocker, I know) and going slow is going to be incredibly difficult for me. I expect major results right away and get discouraged when they don't happen.

Does anyone have any advice for a "re-beginner" runner?
What are some exercises or routines you did after a major injury/recovery period?

5 comments:

Erin | Better Than Doing Laundry said...

Still here and was excited to see a post from you! I had to have surgery to remove a grapefruit sized cyst from my ovary. It took awhile to get back up and rolling. Definitely follow doctor's advice - your insides are bruised and still healing even though you look healed on the outside. I spent time slowing down, walking, enjoying scenery. Swimming and pilates were also helpful, and I eventually worked my way back to running. Hang in there!

CupCake@ Bigger Girls Can Run Too said...

Thanks, Erin! I'm sorry to hear about your surgery but I am glad that you recovered so well!

One idea I had was to do some stationary bike work and some light core/strength to rebuild slowly. I'm also hoping that as I strengthen my core, when I do start to run again, it will help me in the long run.

Thank you again!

Jessica said...

I was so happy to see this :)
Definitely take it easy. Gall Bladder surgery was very rough for me. (My Dad was very very sick when I had surgery. They day after my surgery he went back into the hospital and the family was called in, so of course, I got up and sat at the hospital.) Unfortunately, because of everything I had some issues with healing.
Give yourself a bit more time, and then ease back into it!!

Chris said...

Congratulations on your engagement! What makes it even more special is that you got engaged at Disney! You've had a lot of great things happen to you over the past year. I'm sorry I hear about your accident. When I started back running after my injury, I used a run/walk ratio. I used a 1 min run, 1 min walk. In fact I'm still using it because it keeps me running injury free. Give yourself some time to gradually get your fitness level back. If you'd like to follow my blog, I'm at shufflescrapsparkle .blogspot.com

CupCake@ Bigger Girls Can Run Too said...

Thank you for the advice, everyone!
I was researching some low-impact exercises today and came across a 9 minuter HiiT video that was all low impact (no jumping even!) exercises.

It was perfect! I'm going to do that for a bit and some light core work.