On the Road to Recovery

by Antonio Vega on February 28, 2012

The life of a professional runner isn't always as glamorous as some people might think. The life of an injured runner who is in the recovery stages is even less exciting. But I have settled into good routine as I make my comeback after a year on the injury shelf.

Most mornings start with me stumbling out of bed feeling extremely sore from the previous day's workout. My first few steps are always the worst, but I loosen up by the time I reach the coffee pot in the kitchen. After a light breakfast, I take the dog out for her morning walk. But there's a practical reason for this as I count this as my morning shake out jog since I do very light running with my geriatric K9 to get us both ready for our day..   

Once the dog has been walked, I do some light stretching and some of my hip rehabilitation exercise before going for my first run. I have been relatively conservative with my training thus far.  My focus has been on running fast over mileage. So my weeks have consisted of one shorter tempo run, short hill sprints and a long tempo run.

After my run, I follow that with more core work and stretching. Then, after a quick lunch break, I am off to the gym to finish the rest of my hip exercise routine which, believe it or not, takes almost 90 minutes to complete.

The dog needs her second walk of the day which is always nice and slow and serves as as my cooldown after the gym workout. After dinner, I do one more stretching routine followed by some more core work..

This type of training can be pretty monotonous and it wears on me. But I am happy to have this cycle broken up by my first race in more than 1 ½ years as I am running the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Florida next month.

Just the thought of racing again brings joy to me and I can't wait to dust off my racing flats again.