So I worked out a new route, one slightly over 5K so I wouldn't have any more of this 4.9K crap. A loop, so I knew I could make it to the furthest point, then I may as well keep running, because I'm headed home now.
I decided to run through our nearby park, which has lovely exercise trails. I've wanted to run in the park for awhile, but it is too close to drive to and there is a decent sized hill with no sidewalks to deal with if I want to run to it. It's also hard to use google to measure a route in the park because of the, well, trees blocking the paths on the satellite images. I finally mapped out part of the trail, and then a route home.
Oh, the route home. This would take me up the street I run/walk on regularly (at least prior to my current 5K route), but, of course, farther away from where I usually run. I also don't often have reason to drive down this street, so when I noticed that the google images weren't stitched together correctly, I really couldn't gauge how far off the stitching is. Also, I know this road is hilly. This is the road that had my first significant hills that I fought for weeks (months?) before finally conquering, and then went straight back to avoiding. I felt like farther down the road the hills were more significant. I worried about sidewalks. Enter Google. First, it looks like on images that there are sidewalks. Good. I looked briefly at the elevation, but I really didn't let it sink in. This was the route I wanted to go, so it would be what it be. Besides, the worst part of the hills were going to be between 3 and 4 K, so presumably I would already be walking anyway.
Today started out like any other day lately. Dew. Bagel. Water. Stomachache. Struggling to get the right outfit together for the weather. I went with the same outfit as last time - capri pants, tank top, long sleeve shirt, stocking cap. It was perfect for the last run. Today was 5 degrees warmer, and no wind, compared to the tornadic gusts I faced last time. When I set out, it was cool, but I could tell I was significantly overdressed. I quickly dropped everything and tossed the stocking cap and long sleeve tee back over our fence. Turns out, this was now the perfect outfit for the weather.
Sigh. However, I was having a significant wardrobe malfunction. My pants are drawstring and that drawstring is important to the pants staying in place. I had them tied, but apparently not tight enough. Part of the problem also was that I have a little pouch for my id and key that I usually tuck in my waistband. When the waistband won't stay up, this causes additional problems. So I spent the first K or better hitching my pants up. I am sure I looked like an ass. Thankfully, no one had to look at my ass. At one point I flipped my mp3 from my jazz album to the mic. I have no idea how I did that. But just what I have ALWAYS wanted - a recording of my panting while I run. Maybe I'll upload it later. Ugh. I knew I was going to have to stop and fix it eventually but I didn't want to stop my run! Everything was okay once I finally fixed it, but I had to carry my little pouch for the whole run today, which was annoying.
I also had to stop for traffic when I got to the end of the main street, but just briefly. Once down the hill at the end of the main street, I was headed to all new territory. And the hill that leads to the park. I felt okay, and the hill wasn't bad. Traffic got over, and almost the whole way had a nice flat grass area I could step off onto when cars were coming.
Once I got into the park I was a little dismayed by the desolateness of it all. There were a few people around, but not enough to feel safe. I definitely wished I was packing my pepper spray, although I surely would have sprayed myself while messing with my pants earlier.
After entering the park, it was all downhill until I got to the lake, which was much needed. The downhill, not the lake. The lake actually made me feel the likelihood of seeing a snake today was at its peak. I decided I would stop when I got to the bottom of the hill because I thought it was a pretty sharp hill on the other side of the lake and I would just walk it all. This was mostly determined by the fact that my breathing had been replaced with grunting as my entire stomach was clenched up in a cramp.
I lived to see the lake, which was 19 minutes into my run, and 2.59K (1.61m). I was quite happy that I made it that far before walking. It only took a minute to cross the lake (.09K/.06m), and the hill wasn't that terrible, so I went ahead and ran up it. Ah yes, leave it to me to walk the flat part and run uphill.
Now I have another long downhill. I'm dreading the bottom of this hill, because it is where I will turn and head for home. This is where it's going to get rough. This is the 3rd K.
And, as predicted, I really was quite tired by this point. I was really surprised I was still running at all, with only one tiny walk.
I rounded the corner and the tallest hill I could imagine stood before me. I looked at the elevation profile again when I got home. It was 70 ft, over about .4K/.25m. Um, remember the hill on the RNBNBBQ10K route I feared because it's painful to walk? It's a 47.4 ft hill over .35K/.21m. I was never very good at algebra (or geometry or wherever we woulda learned this math), but I think this local hill was more brutal. I ran to the first intersection. It took me a long time, and my goal was strictly to have an intersection for measuring on the map, but it shaved about 10 feet off the hill. At this point, my total time was 25 minutes, and distance was 3.23K (2.01m).
Oh, and did I mention? No bloody sidewalks. Again, there was room for me to get over onto the grass when cars came, and it is a pretty wide road for most of the hill part. I just prefer to not be in the road.
As I panted up the hill, I saw a Mountain Dew can in the gutter, taunting me. Never more than at that moment, did a Dew sound so wonderful.
I finally got to the top of the hill. It leveled off slightly, but overall, I still had some more uphill before this ended. It just wasn't as severe as that first part. So, I was keeping an eye on my time so I would have an intersection I could start at, and a time to be able to remember. I finally started running at 29 minutes (so easy to remember), and 3.62K/2.25m.
Just a couple of blocks past there, I finally got back on a sidewalk, much to my relief. I also FINALLY made it back to the street where I usually turn around at, which means, dadadummm...my hills. Ah, how puny they look after the mountain I just went up. The downhill, of course was fine.
I was getting tired though, and didn't think I would make it back up the hill. This street runs straight back to the street I live on, but to make the route long enough, I had to cut over a couple of blocks to the main road, and then go back down my street. The street I chose to cut over on is the street that is before the sharpest part of this hill. I have run that sharp part many times, but not after running the rest of the hill. That part of the route was very strategically planned, and my original goal was to get to that street before I walked.
The street before it though looked like it was going to be where I stopped. It was too steep for the last section, I was too tired.
But lo and behold, I got to that street, and kept moving right along. I made it to the street I was turning on. I even made it a little ways down the street. I thought it would be flat here, but it actually was a little uphill, and I decided I had to walk again. I had made it 34 minutes, 4.36K/2.71m.
I was a bit woozy walking down this street. I haven't really been getting dizzy on runs, but I was just exhausted. I couldn't believe I'd been out there for 35 minutes. I knew I was close to home, and had covered a good distance. At the end of the 2 blocks, when I was about to turn back on the main road, I took a DEEP breath. It hurt like hell, but I needed air. At the 37 minute, 4.56K/2.84m mark, I took off for the final stretch. I was sure I would run it out...until I actually started running. I was so done, I was very worried that I wouldn't make it all the way home.
When I set this route, 5K actually hit just before my next door neighbor's house. I wanted to run to my alley, just to give it a little extra. I really wanted to run all the way to my back door. But I knew I would stop at my neighbor's. Somehow, running down the street opposite of the mini pinscher, I made it all the way to my house, and up the alley to the backdoor. 42 minutes, 5.07K, 3.15 miles.
I was sad I finished over 40 minutes, but I still beat my original goal of 45 minutes. It didn't seem like I had been out there that long at all. Overall, my breathing was pretty good today, which has probably been my #1 struggle. My throat wasn't burning, which was a problem on my first longer runs. The loop route definitely helped me, because when I got tired enough to walk for the first time, I was at the back of the loop in the park. It would have been right in the middle of the Figure 8 and I would have come on home on my other route.
The bottoms of my feet had been burning for awhile. I did not wear the proper socks for this at all. It took me a few minutes to tackle getting my feet, which felt like balloons, out of the shoes. Pulled the socks off, and there was just skin flapping everywhere. Ah, blisters. The sign of a nice long excruciating run.
Later in the day, my left achilles started hurting, and I had a headache. I doubt the headache was associated with the run, as I have been getting them a lot lately. Tuesday morning update: the achilles seems better/not So sore so far today, yay!
A couple of other running related stories before I get to my numbers breakdown...
In Australia, there was a race on Saturday called the Stiletto Run. The story I read did not include a distance, but it is what you would expect. A race, where the participants run in heels. Not recommended for the health of your legs, but Friends, a race I could finally win. I guarantee I could outrun just about anyone in a pair of well fitting heels. I have probably done more running in heels than in my sneakers. For reals, sign me up. Prize money is $5,000. That'll take care of the airfare and at least half of my Foster's budget.
Also, Husband and I have been watching a new legal tv show called "The Defenders." The one we watched after my run was about a woman who hit a runner. Granted, the runner was running at night, in all black, in the road. I haven't run at night, yet, although it's getting darker earlier and I fear it may be coming. I most certainly will not be running this route at night. I'm not sure, besides the hills, that it is worth running again at all for the lack of sidewalks throughout. It's unfortunate, because I liked the route.
I may give it one more try, and run it the opposite direction. I thought about that when I mapped it, but I thought the hills at the beginning would wear me out for the rest of the route. And they may, but that big hill is gonna be a whole lot easier going the other way!
Weather: 62, Sunny, 1 mph (it was actually quite a bit gustier than this), 36% Humidity
Time: 1p; Run 19, Walk 1, Run 5, Walk 4, Run 5, Walk 3, Run 5
Distance: 5.07K (3.15m)
Elevation: (Brace yourself) +247.6/-248.8/net -1.2 ft -- Compared to my old 5K route: +86.6/-88.8/net -2.2 ft
5K/10K: 41:23/1:27:28
Run Time: 34 minutes
Distance: 4.39K (2.72m) -- I believe I walked 13.65% of the total -- Compared to about 9% the last time I completed 5K
5K/10K: 39:08/1:22:44
No comments:
Post a Comment