First 5K! ~Happy Dance!~

Omg, I can't believe I totally forgot to blog it! Admittedly, my internet connection has been for crap the last couple days (I'm at my mom's now), and I might not have succeeded had I tried, but I still can't believe I forgot! So. . . did the Rolla Fun Run 5K for my first 5K event (I thus far refuse to call what I do "racing" lol). Was supposed to meet my husband at the event, but his cell phone (which doubles as his alarm clock) died, and so he didn't make it. Which left me disappointed, but also, perhaps more significantly, pushing the baby in an umbrella stroller! Oog. I went up there having set a goal for myself of finishing the 5K in 45 min or less, secretly hoping to run the whole thing and set a personal best for time (under 44 min). Once I realized I was on my own with a baby, I adjusted my goals. 50 minutes. I never trained with a stroller. I did FAR more walking than I hoped for, learned that drinking while steering is next to impossible, and learned to despise the umbrella stroller for the fact that I have to hunch over just enough to interfere with my breathing and screw up my form. :-( Was walking with Janis this evening (with my usual stroller, bigger wheels necessary for the gravel roads we favor), and debating with myself whether I'd have been better off with that stroller for the 5K. It's bulkier, and heavier, but it's also taller. So my form might have been better. Decisions, decisions. . . . and a moot point, as I didn't have it in the car yesterday. It was warm out, but not as bad as I feared (weather forecast called for a high in the '90s), there was shade along the course, and plenty of cool breezes. All things considered, I feel like I could have gotten that PB on this course, if things had worked out differently. Not too many hills. Pavement and concrete, when I'm used to mostly gravel, but that wasn't really a problem. Beautiful course. I think I'd like to do this run again. Maybe next year I won't keep getting passed by that old guy who looks like he's having trouble walking. :-P Had some friends there as well. Nice to have someone you know waiting for you when you cross the finish. :-) Thx, Allie! There's a 5K close to home next weekend (just learned about it yesterday). Might try to redeem myself. And shatter my 5K PR, lol. Oh, forgot to mention. I did make my adjusted goal time. 48 minutes and change, by the clock at the finish. Chip times yet to be posted. I can't go by my Garmin, as I forgot to start and stop it at the right times. Tried running with my mp3 player. Don't think I'm a fan. I might try it a few more times before I chuck it, but really, the earbuds and wires were just kind of distracting, and I didn't feel like it kept me going particularly well. At any rate, bottom line, I could have had a better run, but I'm not disappointed in my performance. And it oughta be an easy time to beat next time. :-)

Oh. Hell. YEAH!!!

Days like today are the reason why you get out there and run the crappy days. I've been feeling bad about my running here lately. I've been averaging 2 runs a training week the last. . . well, might as well say 3 weeks, since I'm not getting another done this week, and the last couple runs in particular I've felt like if anything, I'm losing ground rather than gaining it. I should be wrapping up Week 9 right about now, and I hadn't even completed a Week 8 workout yet! But tonight, everything just sort of. . . fell together. I was starting to be afraid I wouldn't get out there tonight, and this run was really important to me. It's been 2 days since my last one, and there're only 2 more until my 5K in Rolla on Monday. I REALLY didn't want to go out tomorrow, and only have 1 day of recovery before Monday! That's fine for training, but not for an event where I'm going to ask more of myself than usual, and in an unfamiliar setting where I have no control over the course or other conditions. And to top it off, as I was heading out of the parking lot, this HUGE flash of lightning, with giant crack of thunder right on top of it, lit up the sky. I thought (for a second) about going back and calling it off. Then, I thought again. Remembered how important this run was to me, and guaged the weather. Didn't really seem like it was going to last. And it didn't. One more flash of (more subdued) lightning, and a little light rain, was all I had to deal with! Couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions, really. Moist and cool, just the way I like it best, with (again) the scent of honeysuckle to help you really enjoy all that breathing. :-) I decided I was going to try for the 28 min mark tonight. I didn't start my Garmin until after my warm-up, b/c I wanted an even more realistic read on my time for race conditions. As I approached 28, I was feeling pretty good, so I decided I was going to try for 30. Once I hit 30, I decided to keep going as long as I could. What I was thinking of most as I ran tonight (especially the tougher moments) is a quote from a shirt I've decided I want.

"I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can't run, what they'd give to have this simple gift I take for granted and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me."

So tonight, I ran for those who can't. At the 32-min mark (and an uphill grade, lol), I took a couple minutes walk break, then started running again. My intention from this point was to run/walk the rest of the 5K, but somehow, I never got around to walking anymore! The last bit was a bit of a push to finish, but by that point, I knew I could do it, and could see no point in giving up so close to the end! I actually finished the distance running a couple loops around the sidewalks at my apartment complex, so when the Garmin hit 3.1, all that was left to do was drag my exhausted butt into the house, chug a bottle of Gatorade, choke down a spoonful of peanut butter, and stretch! My stomach was a little unsettled for a bit (think I downed the G'ade too fast), but I got over it pretty quickly, and when you consider that tonight I did so much more than I've ever done before, well, who's surprised? Oh, my official time for tonight's run? 44:05! Under my time goal for Monday by almost a minute! Of course, tonight was near perfect conditions, with a course I could decide on myself (in other words, mostly flat, lol). But this makes me feel great! I'm not nearly as nervous about Monday as I was before. I just can't believe how well this run went! On Cloud 9 here, and probably will be for a couple days, lol. People are apt to get tired of hearing about it, particularly my DM buds, who will bear the majority of the burden, since they "get it" and other people's eyes glaze over. :-) Doing a serious happy dance here!

Mommy Guilt

. . . and daughter guilt, and wife guilt, and neice guilt. Where does it end, really? Feels like I'm always supposed to be doing something for someone else, but if I want to take an hour to do something that's good for me, I'm WRONG. Especially since, when I want to take that hour, it means someone else has to keep the kids from killing each other for an hour. And I'm not supposed to ask anyone to do that. After all, they're my responsibility. Haven't been able to go out hardly at all here lately (run or walk), and then I discovered yesterday that my treadmill has finally COMPLETELY turned up its toes and died. :-( No one I trust to watch my kids has actually felt up to it lately, so my running training has fallen off the last couple weeks (only two runs each week), and I have my first 5K coming up on Monday. At the time I registered for it, although my pace is bad enough I wouldn't have made the distance, I at least would have been just finishing C25K at that time. Now, I'm about a week behind that. So, last night, after all that guilt culminated in a good cry over the unfairness of a mom having to feel guilty about every little bloody thing, I decided to toss the program out the window and just run for me. My goal for the night was simple: run/walk 5K as quickly as I could in reasonable comfort, and see how close I could come to my goal for Monday--complete the 5K in 45 minutes or less. I came in at 46 min 38 sec. Not too shabby, all in all. Ran some; walked some. Longest interval of straight running was only 10 minutes, but I didn't go out with the intention of torturing myself to make a certain number of minutes, only to see how close I could reasonably come to a total goal. Overall, other than tripping over the dog a couple times, I was happy with the run. It was a perfectly beautiful evening, with the heady perfume of honeysuckle on the breeze. Gotta love late May in rural Missouri! I was beginning to think I was never going to get a run in while the honeysuckle was in bloom. Then I sat at the computer later in the night and did some resistance band work for my upper body. Arms are a little sore today, so I'd say I did some good. Have an invitation to work out with some friends this evening. . . we shall see if I can slip away.

Ugh!

Thinking that's pretty much all there is to say about today's workout. I'm not sure what the deciding factor was, but I'm sure there were several contributing ones. It was actually a warm, sunny 75 out today, and when you factor that in with the rain we've BEEN having recently, it adds up to humidity. Then, there was the fact that we decided to run PP Hwy (of the hills), and go in a little further than usual, so our out-and-back course made 3 miles. Little did I realize that last half-mile in was all downhill. Which of course translates to the first half-mile out being all uphill! I hadn't done anything physical in 3 days (life will get in the way from time to time), so maybe my legs had gotten lazy as well, but as I turned around and started back up that monster of a hill, I realized that it just wasn't going to happen. So. . . C25K w8d1 probably goes in the books as my biggest FAIL so far. I made it 20 minutes (about)--that's 15 minutes running before I tossed it in. I tried running again after making it back up the hill, but my legs were KILLING me today. Still waiting for this to stop hurting, at least this much. Even the walk back to the car hurt most of the way. It almost feels like I'm losing ground rather than gaining it. What am I doing wrong?

Running is a Mental Sport. . .

. . . and I am INSANE!!! Had a fairly crappy run today, actually. That's what I get for not remembering to drink anything for the first half of the day. At least, I sure hope that was the problem! Pace was terrible and my legs hated me, but I finished C25K w7d3. Managed to keep going, however slowly, until the end. Then, once I recovered, I tossed a few quick fartlek-style run intervals into my walk home as penance for my awful pace during the actual run. Then, I'd barely been home long enough to post, when Janis called! She and Annie wanted to know if I wanted to go for a walk with them this evening. Annie's been itching to try the hills on Crossville Road, so. . . after I fed the family supper, off we went. With those two pushing me on, we managed to complete the 5 miles at an average 17 min/mile pace! Wow. Of course, I tossed a few runs in there, either just for the fun of it, or b/c it becomes necessary from time to time to catch up with my partners. I tend to lag behind a LOT. Janis has offered to slow down for me, but it's a better workout for me if she doesn't, so. . . I just let her kick my fanny repeatedly, lol. On the bright side, even though my challenge has somehow been deleted, I don't think I'm going to have any trouble making my goal of 50 miles for the month of May. Just checked my stats out of curiosity, and I already have 44 miles! Wow! Not so bright, my first workout of the day today, I did 5K in 50 minutes and 45 seconds. Doesn't bode well for my aspirations of finishing my first 5K (in less than 2 weeks) in 45 minutes. :-( Ah, well. We shall see, huh? At any rate, after logging 8 miles today, I'm taking tomorrow off with no remorse whatsoever. My "bad" knee is hurting some, and I'd rather err on the side of caution and rest it than push it too much and injure it. Wouldn't want to be properly laid-up. Starting to notice that if I don't get to run periodically, I get cranky. :-) Great; I'm an addict.

Registered for my 1st 5K ~scared now!~

As you can see by the new widget to the right, I have officially signed up for a race! Right at the end of my C25K training. I don't expect to run the whole thing without any walking, but it's a milestone, nonetheless. Will be making the husband take me out for pizza at my favorite place for lunch afterwards. ;-) Oh, and if anyone was paying attention, yes, I made my 20 for the week. Cold SOB out there tonight, and drizzling mist, but I put in my 3 (walking) for a total of 20 miles this week! Now, it's after midnight, and the counter is officially reset to zero. ~sigh~ Such is life on the Mile. Bye now!

C25K w7d2. . .and then some!

In the end, a 10K+ day for the crazy woman. Went out after dinner for my w7d2 workout (5-min warmup, 25-min run). About halfway through, a couple of my partners pulled up with an invite to join them for a walk after I was finished. I accepted, with a side thought that lack of oxygen to my brain was surely impairing my better judgement! So, finished my workout (personal best for pace!), and then went to their house to schmooze with their cat and head out for a nice, brisk walk. :-) Had a fantastic time! If I go out tomorrow and push for it, I could end up breaking 20 miles for the week. ~excited!~