Returning to running - but only on ice

I made a tremendous mistake on Sunday. After watching the first half of season 2, we watched the new episode of The Office that we DVR'd. I thought I was ok with the new seasons, but it completely re-opened the wound of losing Michael Scott and I had to deal with the pain all over again. Don't ever mix old and new seasons recklessly like that. Just putting that out there as a PSA so others don't make the same mistake.

Last night was my first post JFK "run". I spent 18 minutes running around the ice, playing Broomball. We had a game Monday, but I wussed out, due to exhaustion more than soreness. Obviously a mistake, as our team lost (0-1). Tuesday, we played a tough team and managed to tie the game 0-0 (I told you it's not a high scoring sport). 

I even brought a secret weapon - my tights perfectly matched my Broomball shirt. I realized after taking this picture the tights were on backwards.

This is for those who complained about the lack of
whooty shots in previous posts

 I would say that if my mind got erased right now like in that Will Smith movie or The Maze Runner (for those who've read it), I would never guess my body ran 50 miles just a few days ago. I would notice a tiny bit of soreness and tightness and probably think it was from some sort of challenging, but typical workout.

Because why not?

I was nervous about how my legs would hold up on the ice so I tried to loosen them up before the game. I did 20 easy minutes on the elliptical, and then went to a yoga class. It felt really weird, because I'm pretty sure I haven't done any sort of exercise other than running or maybe bike commuting since probably July. In a good way though, my legs felt great after all the downward dogs and forward folds in yoga.

As far as returning to running, I really haven't decided when I want to do that yet. I'll admit I was tempted when I put on my running tights last night. Mainly I didn't this morning because our Broomball game didn't even begin until well after my bedtime - 9:15pm! I didn't go to sleep until nearly midnight, and one of the lovely things about not training is that I don't have to worry about dragging myself out of bed at 5am after a late night to get a run in. 

We all know I love any excuse to take it easy, and last year I really feel I jumped right back into running and training too quickly and felt sluggish and burnt out quickly. I spent my entire Christmas break laid up with horrible bronchitis - although of course I have no clue if that's at all related. Still, taking a few more days off than I need isn't going to hurt me, while there's a slight chance starting up again too soon will. As someone who spent less than $5 on gambling in the year when I went to both Vegas and Atlantic City, I don't like to take chances.

Plus, I can drive everywhere and still have bragging rights.

I am super jealous of everyone doing Turkey Trots, but there's no way I can run fast right now, so I might as well save my $30 and just run a 30 minute 5K around my neighborhood. Now I'm not saying I'll shift directly from ultramarathon training to Biggest Loser training. I just want to join #OperationTotalFitness with Ashley. Eric and I have even talked about doing P90X together, although that scares me.

How much time do you take off after a big race? How much time do you think I should take off?