Well, I took Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off from running. Not from injury per se, but I didn't really feel like running. I also had absurd weather to deal with. And several interviews (in related news, I didn't get the job at the rec center - and I got that news about half an hour before I went to another interview - very encouraging way to go in). And what's with the sun going down so early? I hate winter. A couple of nights I had really wanted to run, but just did not have enough daylight left to try for a 40ish minute run. So, Saturday it is.
Last night, it rained, and rained, and rained. The forecast said the rain would stop and it would be cool in the morning. I wasn't too concerned about getting up early to get my run in, however I *of course* slept way longer than I intended to. I'm nothing, if not consistent.
I checked the weather, and although it was disgustingly overcast, there seemed to be no reason I couldn't run (other than I may need an ark). I told Husband the route I was taking in case a storm kicked up (yeah, I still run with my phone, not sure why I thought I wouldn't just be able to call him and tell him where I was instead of asking him to drive all around the neighborhood looking for me).
I was worried today would be hard after taking off so long, and it's not like my last run was even that impressive, but I took off in the mist (lovely - the first time I've ever run with my glasses instead of contacts and it's misty. Love it.) and felt the tightness in my left Achilles immediately. I haven't been feeling bad at all this week, so I was disheartened from the get-go. I did not take off like a bat out of hell like I did last attempt, but was still winded whilst on my own block. I tried to tell myself that's just how running is.
All sorts of people were out, everywhere - JOY! I saw a guy pulling a kid in a wagon (which made me happy, I love wagons), I saw a runner go shooting across the street I was running on, I saw two people on scooters (like rascal scooters) to counteract the two people in town running, and plenty of people just sitting about, staring (yay meth!). I tried, so hard, not to run faster to get away from them. There were just more ahead anyway.
I was getting tired, but not too tired, not like Monday. I tried to turn my focus to my feet, and hit with my heel and roll up and push off with my toe. I immediately felt a difference from the flat way I had been stomping along. I also felt like it made me speed up and as I was approaching the hilly part of my run, I, well, went back to stomping.
I was most definitely suffering from side cramps throughout my run today. The uber-painful searing variety. I tried to breathe into them, I tried until I thought I was going to pass out from focusing so hard on that. I have GOT to get back to getting all my water in. I don't know why I've had such a hard time lately, but I woke up (after my long night's coma) soo thirsty. I'm combining not getting enough water, with sleeping way too long, and expecting to be able to get up and run without a drink. There's no way. So I had drank a bit - maybe 8-12 ounces - before I left.
Once I got to the hilly section, I pulled out every single one of my motivational tricks to keep me going. I wasn't sure yet if I had it in me or not. On Monday, I was beyond toast at this point, and I don't know what kept me going as far as I did. Today, I didn't feel great, but I felt like there was still a chance.
I made it through Post-Apocalypticaville, and turned uphill. This corner was where I stopped Monday. This is a long, gradual uphill. It was going to take a lot out of me. I started thinking, when I get to the top of the hill, it will be flat for quite a ways, then a long downhill. I CAN DO THIS. But, then, I have a long uphill home. Balls. There's no way I'll make it up the main road at the end of this. My legs were getting very, very heavy.
I decided I had to stop and walk. I would stop when I got to the back of the house on the corner (top of the hill, where I turn toward the post office and the top loop of my Figure 8), walk around the house, and when I got past it on the other side of the corner, I would run again. This would be really easy to map my walking distance on Google. How I convinced myself to stop when I got so close to the top of the hill, I don't know, but I stopped after 19 minutes of running.
I was utterly depleted. Breathing was pointless, because no oxygen was serving my body. I walked around the corner, past the house, and kept walking. There was no way I could run again. Not a chance. Plus my knees started hurting while I was walking. They felt like balloons.
I was pissed. I was about to head for home, at least with the satisfaction I had made it further than last time, when I decided to keep walking the route. Undoubtedly, once I fully recovered my breath, I would want to run again. Sure, my time would blow, but whatever. At least I would finish it, and then maybe take another go at it before I moved on with my plan to increase time and distance.
I kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
Ok, now I am coming up on the post office and I feel ready to run. Do I really want to start running at this corner, and have to run past the post office, or just walk this long block and then start running on the other side of it? Ahh, I bet you thought I would keep walking, but I did not. I had walked for 6 minutes, and off I went.
I ran past the post office, around the corner, and the side cramp was so bad, I just couldn't take it. I finished off that block, and completed another 2 minutes of running. At this point, I was very close to my house and fairly certain I wouldn't run anymore, so I just walked home.
My knees did not enjoy the walk. When I got home, I iced them, my ankles, my left shin, my back/shoulder area, and I did a few stretches for my left Achilles. Oh, and I swore off running forever.
Bah, I'm sure I'll go again. Perhaps I won't even wait so long. I thought about how previous fails would cause me to repeat a week in the training, and since I had been up to 30 minutes, but my last two were 18 and 19 minutes, maybe I need to go back through the last week or so and build back up. Of course, as long as I keep running the same route, and running as far as I can, I'm kinda doing that anyway.
OK, so I have a bunch of numbers today. I didn't count seconds or anything, so these are somewhat estimates, but should be pretty close. I'm updating the total stats with the Run 19, Walk 6, Run 2 numbers.
Weather: 77, Cloudy, Breezy 4mph, 87% Humidity (The mist leads me to believe that should be 100%), Feels like 77
Time: 10:30am
Time: Run 19 minutes
Distance: 2.62K (1.63m)
Elevation: +41.6/-37.5/net 4.1 ft
5K/10K: 38:12/1:20:44 (This would be my 6th fastest just run time, but I'm putting the numbers below into my spreadsheet.)
Time: Run 19, Walk 6
Distance: 3.15K (1.96m)
Time: Run 19, Walk 6, Run 2
Distance: 3.45K (2.14m)
5K/10K: 40:19/1:25:13 (Meh. Not great.)
Time: Run 19, Walk 6, Run 2, Walk 4
Distance: 3.85K (2.39m)
Elevation: +53.7/-53.7/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 41:07/1:26:55
Run Time: 21 minutes
Distance: 2.92K (1.81m)
5K/10K: 37:33/1:19:22 (4th fastest just run time)
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