Today, everything went right. Well, the stuff that didn't, didn't matter. Like, I didn't get up when I wanted to. I woke up a couple of times, but didn't get up. I knew it was going to be hot again, so I definitely wanted to get this over with. I'm still really sore from yoga two days ago...the top of my knee, where I fell, still hurts, and...to put this as delicately as possible....physical activity was not something I was remotely interested in today.
However, I was definitely eager to give this Walk 5, Run 6, Walk 5 another go, and I gave the whole thing a lot of thought. I was thinking I would try to recreate the original Day 15, with the mp3 and the hills. I have a better idea of where the finish line should be, so I wouldn't be so disappointed when it was nowhere near where I expected. I was definitely leery of those hills at the start, so I decided I would turn off before the hills and run down the side street, turning around when I got to the end. The side street is pretty short, flat, and I like running it, so why not just turn around and head back home down the same street. I like this idea.
So, I know I swore off the mp3, and I'm all for hearing the sounds of nature on my run, blah, blah, blah...Let's face it, I live in a town. I'm listening for loose dogs, drunk bums, and runaway cars. None of which is it going to really help to hear coming. So, I queued up my favorite song again, set it to repeat, because I could jam to that song all day, and knew that I didn't even have to get through it twice and my run would be over ("You" is 3:14 long).
I couldn't believe how tight my calves were when I stretched this morning. Youch, definitely needed the stretches!
Alright, off I go, with just 1 glass of water down. (I'm concerned water with no food is causing side cramps, but I had to get going.) I immediately regretted wearing a black tshirt. Holy skin cancer, it's gonna be hard to keep this up all summer. I'm no longer worried about my glowing shoes - my legs are surely blinding passersby now.
So I set off with a variation of the original day 15 in mind. As I came up the walk hill, just before the run, I heard a terrible lot of noise ahead. Sure enough, when I crested the hill, the road I had decided to turn off on was closed while trees were being cut down. I looked ahead to the drastic down then up that I did on Day 15, and decided I just couldn't do it. So I made a quick turn toward the busy road I have been running frequently.
Well, when the alarm to run went off, I was actively trying to dodge a douchebag hillbilly with a lawnmower that clearly wasn't interested in letting me get around him on the shortest route possible. So, I was running too fast. Argh! I tried to slow down, but I felt like I was probably going too fast the whole time.
I love listening to music when I'm running!! If I'm dancing while I run, do I have to run as far?? I definitely felt a smile creep across my face a couple of times (early on, of course). Posture felt good, route felt good, sun at my back felt good. I wasn't sure of my route, and I was still on the first play-through of the song. I took a turn off the main road, so that I could go around the block, hitting the big hill at the end of the block from the top (basically, it took me two blocks of gradual uphill running to dodge a one block sharp incline).
By the time the song got through the first time, I was getting a little tired... Hey, upside to playing music? The panting isn't so loud! Sure, everyone else within a block can hear it, but I can't, and that somehow seems to be helpful.
When I finish the downhill, I head into the sun, the way I came. Geesh, I don't remember running downhill, but I am definitely going uphill now. I was getting close to completely running out of steam, but I knew I had to be getting close to the end. I checked the time on my phone, and I had less than a minute to go. I usually fare pretty well when I have less than a minute...anything more and I get discouraged. So I put my head down, and kept going until the alarm went off. I ripped the ear buds out, shut the alarm off, and put my hands on my knees. I have got to stop doing that, because when I stand back up, the dizziness is almost too much to bear. I felt like I had just completed a race. I cannot believe I made it through the 6 minutes!
I wanted nothing more than to sit down today, but in the interest of not completely ruining my 5K/10K time predictor, I kept going. It still took me an extra couple of minutes to get home, but I survived. After all, I only quit jobs and things I know I can't do...I'm still not convinced that I can't do this. I was thinking about how I am far less concerned now about snakes, slugs, worms, sex offenders, kids, people, traffic, and far more concerned about hills...I need to scope the route of the 10K in person and see if there are any other giant hills I need to be worried about.
As soon as I walked through the door, I slammed back a couple of pain killers, and put the ice pack directly on my face. Oh, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I can't believe no one came out of their house to make sure I was ok on the walk home. I had forgotten just how red my face gets when I workout! Oof. Bright red face, on my bright white body. I look like a glowing candlestick. Anyway, I've never been so happy to apply ice, especially to the top of my knee. I was going to have oatmeal for my post-run meal, but went with a nice cold milkshake instead.
Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest. Looking forward to giving the Run 4, Walk 5, Run 4, Walk 5 another go...it was impossibly hard last week, but I actually did fairly well with it (at least, I almost got all 8 minutes of running in), so I'm eager to see what happens in two days.
Weather: 71, sunny, no wind, 74% humidity
Time: 9am; Walk 5, Run 6, Walk 7
Distance: 1.96K (1.22m)
Elevation: +54.9/-55.3/net -.4 ft
5K/10K: 49:30/1:44:38
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