Yesterday I had a long run at an easy pace which meant I had time to wander in my thoughts. I realized it’s not as easy as it was when I was running long distances in Columbus. I still have the ability to let my mind open up to new ideas but my running has changed a lot since 2013, 6 years ago! As I told my running coach last night, I think more about my posture while running and which muscles I’m using and I ‘blame’ Pilates for that. But I also thank Pilates for that because without running I wouldn’t have Pilates and without Pilates I wouldn’t have running.
I’ve written about how I discovered Pilates after a running injury and that brought me down the path to becoming a Pilates Instructor. But now I’d like to share how I returned to running after trying to create a regime on my own. After a recent vacation I came home feeling lazy and less active so I contacted my friend Kristen, who is a certified running coach and asked her to create a 5K training plan. I used to run longer distances, my longest run being 18 miles and my longest race being a half marathon but I no longer have the desire to run that far. Yesterday’s run was 45 minutes, meant to be about time and not distance which ended up being 3.6 miles.
My training has been going really well and my plan has been structured so that I haven’t been bored on my runs or stuck wondering how long will this take? I started my running before the end of the year to get in the habitat as the new year came round. I prefer running outside versus inside on a treadmill or indoor track and I’ve been fortunate so far! I’ve done 2 indoor track runs and 3 treadmill runs. The treadmill runs actually helped me discover it was time to buy new shoes and they have made a huge difference and taken away any minor aches and pains while running. There have been a couple hiccups along the way; sick one week and missing a day or postponing a run, skipping a day because of an overwhelmed schedule before the holidays, skipping a day because of icy sidewalks where it was too dangerous to run, and doing a virtual race instead of going to Wisconsin for the race due to a freezing rain advisory.
Joseph Pilates wrote the book ‘Return to Life’ which is about Pilates returning your body to life (health). In a workshop with Amy Taylor Alpers, from The Pilates Center, she talked about how Pilates helps you do everyday activities better. I couldn’t agree more with these statements and my running the past two and a half months has put this into perspective and proven its truth. Pilates helps us run better, swim longer, swing a golf club better, be more flexible, and enjoy life to its fullest. As I mentioned before I can’t talk about Pilates without talking about running and I can’t talk about running without mentioning Pilates. For me they go together like peanut butter and chocolate or coffee and donuts.