Starting from zero

I spent my semester holidays this summer in Hamburg doing an internship in the field of corporate communications. I had a great time and experienced Hamburg as a runner’s paradise – you’ve got plenty of parks, the River Elbe, the Alster as well as out-of-town forests. As my apartment was only in 10 minutes walking distance to the bank of the River Elbe, I went out running almost daily. It was just so much fun and the track I used to run was 10km along the waterfront, watching the big containerships coming into the harbour or watching the sun dawning over the water – I simply loved it. 

I came home two weeks ago and have been ill since then. That’s why I haven’t been out for a run since 6th October. But today I woke up, the sun was shining and the temperatures are summerly warm. Perfect weather to go out for a first run after almost two weeks. The annoying part? When you haven’t run for a while and some nasty virus has weakened you, your first run is like starting from zero. You feel like you have never run before. Your muscles are sore, you’re short of breath, your pulse is higher than usual and every kilometre seems to be twice as long. 
But running on a day like today is uplifting and spurring: the sun is shining, it’s nice and warm, it smells of autumn and leaves have started to change colours. 
So here you go, my run of the day:  
http://runkeeper.com/user/Quissel/activity/125850994 

Average pulse rate: 166 
That’s quite high. Usually I run at a rate of (+/-) 150. I’m using the POLAR RS 100 as a pulse watch to stop the time, watching my heart rate and how many calories I’ve burnt. The watch calculates your ideal pulse training zone and defines – according to your weight, age, sex and height – a max and min limit. My limits are 129 to 168. The watch files how long you have stayed in your zone and how many minutes or seconds you’ve been above or below. Today I was only 00:25:25 hrs of total 00:48:49.03 hrs within my ideal training zone. For me this proves that I haven’t run for a while. Usually I stay the whole duration within my limits. Well I’ll get back there soon. 

I didn’t do a best time, but I ran quite slowly on purpose to watch my body and to take things slowly. I felt great afterwards and feel ready to boost performance again. That’s another thing: The first run after pausing a while feels tough, but if you’re a frequent runner you’ll get back to your normal fitness quickly. By the way, below you’ll find a picture of the “Stausee” in Haltern am See. Circuing it (depending on which track you choose) takes you about 1 hour. It’s one of my favourite running tracks.

I'll keep you posted.
Kristin

The "Stausee" in Haltern am See