Post for run on Wednesday 10/6.
Well, today I tried to setup the perfect run. I decided to run my new 5K route in the opposite direction, so the monster hill would be taken going down. I started this route running away from my house (well, obviously), but then circling back past it, and then way, way farther away. The little jog at the beginning was necessary to get the full 5K in, and I knew I would be safe going past the house right at the start of the run. So I even had the foresight to KEEP that jog at the beginning of my run, knowing running past the house when I have less than a mile to go, wasn't going to happen. I also changed the street that I would crossover on, from the main road to the hilly street. There has been something very, very dead on the street I crossed on for awhile. I chose that street originally because it was before a really steep part of the hill. However, running backwards hit that steep part going down, so it was perfect to change the crossover street. I also wore my shorts with pockets, so I could enjoy having pepper spray while in the park. And finally, I wore some super thick socks to protect my feet bottoms.
Sounds like I was all set for a perfect run.
I guess I was pretty tired today. I didn't help by only eating toast, Dew, a dessert bar, and water before my run. I also decided to curl up on the floor with the dog, on his pillow, under a Snuggi, and take a nice long nap before the run.
I should have just stuck with the napping today.
I turned on my mp3 player, and it was actually dead. So I gave it a charge for about 4 minutes. I didn't know how far that would get me, but I didn't realize it was dead until I was all stretched and ready to go, and I didn't want to wait around. I was actually concerned about my phone going dead today.
So, I set off, with the mp3 on random, afraid to skip over any songs that I didn't want to hear, because of wasting battery power. I have an addiction to pushing buttons while I am running. I don't do it all the time, and it's usually not until I am struggling, then I go nuts. I repeatedly push buttons on the phone, I skip songs just to push buttons. It's bizarre. Now I am unable to push buttons because I'm afraid of both going dead.
It seemed that the wind was in my face no matter which way I was going. Then the mp3 died before I got to the hills. Sigh.
Well, as I was taught to always walk/run on the side of the road where you are facing oncoming traffic, I crossed near the peak of the hill, where the sidewalk ends, if you will. Turns out, on that side of the street, there was sidewalk for quite a ways farther than the other side. If I hadn't been struggling all the way up that monster hill going the other way, maybe I would have noticed and gotten out of the street earlier. Oops.
As I neared the bottom, I was able to see just how far I had run up the hill last time. A pretty impressive distance, really. I was pretty tired at this point, and felt like I had run at a pretty good clip, so I wasn't sure how far into the park I would make it. After all, I had to go uphill as soon as I got in.
I made it, well, not too far. This stretch had no shade, the sun was beating down, I had those ridiculous thick socks on, and what happened to the wind!? I was suddenly very hot, so I walked when I got past the maintenance building, my landmark. (19 minutes, 2.61K, 1.62m.)
And walked.
I could not catch my breath. I thought about just walking the rest of the way home. I was happy with my initial burst, and I was really tired.
I made it up the hill, down the next hill, to the lake. Here I will run, even though I still don't feel so great. (4 minutes of walking, .35K, .22m.) I made it across the lake, even though I was a little close and at one point seriously thought I was going to fall in. On the other side, the trail goes up, and it starts off steep. I did not make it far, before I gave in. (A whopping 1 minute run, .14K, .09m.)
Well, that's that, I am walking the rest of the way home. I don't know why, but the first time I run a route seems to be the best. Too bad this town sucks, and it's hard to find a decent route that I like. Too many sex offenders, too many broken sidewalks, too many missing sidewalks, too many hills, too many half street dead ends. Sigh. Maybe after tackling this, I should go back to my first, flat route. It seems easy by comparison. I was starting to worry I was never going to get home due to sheer exhaustion.
I walked all the way back up the main street, until I got to the original crossover street, and decided to give it one more burst home. This is where I ran it out from last time. (Walked 17 minutes, 1.44K, .89m.) So I take off, bottoms of my feet suddenly killing me in spite of the super hot thick socks. I made it to my street. Sigh. (2 minute run, .32K, .2m.) I walked the last couple of blocks home. (2 minutes, .19K, .12m.) I went ahead and tracked the whole time even though I was walking, because I wanted the distance to be 5K. The whole time I really only wanted to count the first part of the run.
I ended up running 3.07K of 5.05K (1.91m of 3.14m). It took me 45 minutes, 22 of which were run. Distance-wise, I walked about 39%.
If I just counted the initial run, I went 2.61K (1.62m) in 19 minutes. The elevation change was +78.7/-143.5/net -64.7 ft. The 5K/10K predictor would be 38:21/1:21:04. I decided to record the full 5.05K number in my stats, since I did try, a little, after the initial burst.
My right knee was a little sore as the day wore on, but it went away. I've been lucky lately with not having things nag on and on like at first.
Weather: 78, Sunny, 13 mph wind, 34% Humidity
Time: 2:30p; Run 19, Walk 4, Run 1, Walk 17, Run 2, Walk 2
Distance: 5.05K (3.14m)
Elevation: +254.5/-253.7/net .8 ft
5K/10K: 44:32/1:34:07
Run Time: 22 minutes
Distance: 3.07K (1.91m)
5K/10K: 37:16/1:18:46
P.S. Sorry for the massive delay on blogging lately. It's a real pain in the ass to put the numbers together for these stupid run, walk, run, walk, run, walks that I insist on of late. I hate pulling the numbers, I hate blogging it. I hate that I can't just run the whole thing. I also hate going for another run before I've done the blogging. However, it doesn't stop me. I wanted to run Friday, but decided to wait till Saturday morning, when I enjoy running. And didn't. Maybe I'll get one in today, 10-10-10, to mark both the Chicago Marathon, and the Route 66 Marathon that runs through MO, KS, and OK, which I think is super cool. But...it's not looking good. At least I got this blog in, so that's one excuse out of the way.
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