Let's see...I didn't run this morning. I spent all day wishing I had, but in the interest of not adding more stress to a busy morning, I didn't push my luck by squeezing it in. It was bloody hot today, and it was a long, largely fruitless day. I had a big lunch. I had a big supper (pizza from Shakespeare's...and one of the best ones I have ever had there...and I've had a lot...)..and a second Mt Dew (gasp - I haven't had 2 in one day in eons!)...I was sweltering hot all day. It was hot when I got home.. My legs hurt, both because I was rocking heels (that also hurt my feet) for the first time in a month and from all the thigh work from the ballet dvd. My thighs got worse as the day went on, and I regretted more and more not squeezing the run in. I also had a post on facebook from a local running store asking how people are surviving in this humidity. I fear for my life.
Today's task: Run 4 minutes, Walk 5, Run 4, Walk 5.
When we got home, the neighborhood was abuzz and the last thing I really wanted to do was run past all these people. I waited until I feared I'd be running in the dark, and then set out. Well, tried to. Since today started with a run, I wanted to leave right when the clock ticked over. Finally, after multiple technical difficulties, all systems were go. I didn't have a particular route in mind, but the route I took on the original Day 17 was out because there are WAY too many kids in that neighborhood in the evening. So I basically went straight out my front door and kept going. Sadly, this resulted in a quick uphill I wasn't expecting and nearly sent me into a panic. But, I got over it..or at least halfway, until there was a side street, and I jetted off that way. I swear, no matter what direction I go, it's uphill. Bizarre.
Anyway, I'm back on my favorite main road, and doing pretty well, even though I felt like my pace was a little fast. I was breathing really well..albeit a little too Lamaze-like, but it was working. I checked the clock about 2 minutes in - not out of total agony, more hopeful curiosity. I was running west, so I had a lovely sunset to look at, which was fantastic. I can't usually see the sunset from my house (apparently because there's a hill across the way), so this was great. I thought I'd be a morning runner, but I'm not so sure.
When the walk alarm went off, I had to do some quick calf stretches. My right calf has been super tight, and was cramping, as was my right thigh, which has also been not so much cramping, as twinging, the past couple days. I visualized the banana sitting in my fruit basket at home. Once I settled into my walk, I was trying to pace out the distance in my head, so that I could get home at the right time, and I would avoid all hills. My hill at the end of this route that I've run around several times now was going to hit during the walk and I was STOKED about that. I don't mind walking up the hills. I actually shared multiple hellos with neighbors, who were ALL OVER THE PLACE.
Well, I again mis-estimated my distance and was stuck once I started my second 4 minute run. I was coming to a point where my options were all hills. I was on a plateau, if you will, and I could either run downhill (this was my first thought), but then I would hit that dastardly uphill that killed me in Day 15. Or, I could just go uphill, and I really didn't think I could do it. It would be a pretty sharp uphill, too. Argh.
As I ran towards the intersection of hill and hill, I got my first flavor of what being in a race is like. There were like 5 cats lounging around on the street I was on. And they all took off ahead of me, as if we were running together, when they saw me coming. Except for one orange one who just laid there and watched me go by, as unimpressed as one can be with a starter runner.
Once I took my attention off my kitty competitors, I focused again on the impending doom of the hills, and guess what? The street I was on didn't end, it just turned into a gravel "road" across the hilly street. SWEET!!!! This, again, is what I love about this area - I've lived here for 5 years and have been walking past here regularly and never noticed this little lane.
So I wave goodbye to the hills, and stay on my plateau down Rapist Corridor. Yeah, no sooner than I decided to go down the gravel road, I feared for my life. But what is running if not playing a little Russian Roulette...I mean between the lack of oxygen, the too fast pulse, the dizziness, the loose dogs and the creepy neighbors, it really is a gamblin' girls game - on the best days.
I've voiced many of my fears here so far, largely consisting of snakes, worms, and their inbred cousin, the slug. Here's another fear: Hillbillies. This lane offered a gauntlet of terror for me: definite opportunity for snakes with all the overgrowth, dogs running at me from all directions (all chained, it appears), broken down cars, omg is that an outhouse?, and gross, that was a dead something in the lane. This, an otherwise charming little route, would have been far less scary in the middle of the day, instead of at dusk.
When I got to the end of the lane, it thankfully connected to a street, where I saw a very large dog trying to determine if I was going to get any closer to his house. He probably was chained, but I averted my eyes and stayed on my side of the street. I was getting a little winded by this point - I had checked the time coming down the lane, again around the two minute mark.
I came to the next intersection and my options were these: Across the street was a house with a beware of dog sign stuck to the front of the house, very close to the sidewalk (but no sign of said dog). Or, I could stay on my side where two little dogs were up ahead in a front yard. I was sure they, too, were chained, so I stuck to my side, even though it required mounting a wee hill. Those little fur balls most certainly were not chained and they were not happy. Luckily, I don't think they had ever seen a runner, so they somewhat tentatively barked along at me until their owner came out. Geesh.
I crossed the street to avoid some Hillbillies practicing MMA on the sidewalk, and my alarm went off. I DID IT!!! And I wasn't keeling over in agony!
As I walked home, on the part of the loop I take regularly, I spotted a huge angel statue in an upstairs window in one of the creepy old houses around here. Husband has told me not to take my eyes off such things, due to his Dr. Who watchings, but I was a wee freaked, and averted my eyes immediately.
I made it home precisely on time, and sweet mother, there's a box from my favorite bakery, (cacao) sweets and treats, sitting under the mailbox! Totally didn't notice that on my way out, but now I am certain this was the world's most perfect run. Not just because the first version of it was 20 degrees colder, and it was raining, and there was no sign of life (that's actually a good thing), and I didn't complete the time, and I felt like I was dying for most of the run. But, because I got to run to the sunset, WALK uphill, race with cats, see a new area, where I didn't die, I survived loose dogs, the angel statue, and hillbillies, I felt good (although my knees and thighs got angry at me later), had (I believe) my best race time predictor, and got treats at the finish line. (cacao) specializes in baked goods made with alcohol... and, again, alcohol and jazz are the reasons I run. And maybe to keep away from the weeping angels from Dr. Who (because they're fast, unlike zombies, people).
"He conquers who endures." (Persius)
Weather: 77, Sunset, No breeze (at all), 66% humidity
Time: 8pm; Run 4, Walk 5, Run 4, Walk 5
Distance: 2.1K (1.3m)
Elevation: +68.9/-75.6/net -6.7 ft
5K/10K: 45:57/1:37:07
No comments:
Post a Comment