Will all these baby steps be enough?

Walking is out.- My initial comeback plan via run/walking may have changed. In the past two weeks I've learned that (for me anyway) physiologically running and walking are two very different activities. Just because you might be able to run a particular distance (let's say...26.2 miles for example), don't assume you will be able to walk the same distance as easily. I've always admired the DRC Walk Group for lots of reasons- one of which is the immense time dedication it takes to complete the average 15-18 mile training run. Now I have more reason to admire the dedicated walkers. It's really hard to walk those long distances. It's definitely something that requires consistent training over time to get your body used to it. After trying a few 'walking only' workouts of 6-8 miles, I ended up with some very sore hips and knees. Too much too soon to pick up race walking I think.

So, back to running workouts-- in baby steps... My body has been trained for running long distances for about a year now. Hopefully it will remember quickly how to do that. I have a 20 mile run on the schedule for this Saturday. I clearly will not be ready for that. The current goal is to shoot for something between 9 and 11 miles this weekend. But it will still take some work to get there. Here's how I've gotten started this week...

Sunday- 2 miles. - Felt like a kid learning to walk again. Gait felt awkward. Breathing felt off. Knees hurt. Side aches. But felt good afterward.
Monday - 4 miles. - Mile 1 felt awful! Had to stop and walk a few times to work out the side stitches. Mile 2 my knee hurt most of the way. Miles 3-4 started to feel good again. Maybe there was some hope after all.
Tuesday- 5 miles. - Very tough run mentally. Would not have made it without the company of my favorite running buddy. I was checking my watch constantly seeing if it was time to stop. I really wanted to stop but had no good reason to. I wasn't in pain, it just wasn't fun-- this was hard!! But again the last mile started to feel really good. I'm at a very slow pace-- an average of 90 seconds per mile slower than I'd been running pre-H1N1, and it still feels tough. But I'm getting there!!

I can't say it enough-- thank you again to all of my Texas Marathon mile sponsors. You are keeping me going!!!