Today I woke up and the initial thought was to roll over and go back to sleep. But, no, I know it's just too hot in the afternoon to go running this time of year and so I forced myself awake and started the coffee brewing and hit the road.
I had thought, "oh, I'll just do my 2 mile run this morning, it's Friday." Dumb excuse I know. So, if you picture a rectangle and then in one corner of the rectangle make an arc - I live on the arc part, and the outside rectangle is a three mile square (well, my car's odometer says 3.3 miles, but when I plotted it on runnersworld.com it says 3.01 miles, so I split the difference and say it's a 5k). If I go the opposite direction of the 3 mile rectangle and run to the next main road and back, that's two miles. Or that's what I thought until I plotted that out and it turned out to only be 1.75.
So, I started walking to the rectangle and once I crossed the road to the sidewalk and started running I said, "no way am I just going to do the 2-mile (1.75), it's Friday!" Much better excuse right? And I'm so glad I made that decision. I've done the 3 mile loop about 4 times now, and it gets easier every time. I ran almost the whole thing today - only stopped one time for a small stretch for those darn hip flexors (anyone know a good exercise to strengthen them?). And, when I reached the point I though I was going to stop, there was a squashed skunk in the road - that will make you run just a bit futher to get away from the smell!
The last two blocks before I get back to the starting point I usually try to sprint, but it usually is just a faster jog. Today, I actually sprinted that part and really felt like I was working really hard. My breathing was good and when I finished, I didn't feel like puking. Always a good sign.
I really feel like today's run was my best one yet. It feels great to see progress being made and feeling the difference in my body. Plus, I went to Walmart and got me a cheap water (and I assume sweat) resistant watch with a timer on it. I haven't really been tracking my time since I switched from the treadmill to the road so I don't know what the middle times were. But when I was doing the treadmill, my 5ks were somewhere around 42-45 minutes. Today it was 34:16! That's progress and that feels great. Thanks for all your encouragement. I really appreciated it, and it keeps me motivated.
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2 comments:
Great Job! I ran a late night 4 miler last night & will be running in the Cajun Industries Twilight Classic 5K race tomorrow night in Baton Rouge. The race also serves as the La RRCA State Championship and the LA Senior Olympics 5K. I also get a free Brooks’s running cap! It should match my Brooks shoes and other running gear. At least I will look like a runner when I head up to Maine next month to run the MDI half marathon.
Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving." - Maurice Greene (attributed to Roger Bannister shortly after running the first sub-4 mile)
Some days you just have to respond to what feels right.
Great run...especially without puking. When you can really sprint at the end, that's a sign of progress.
So glad for you!
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