I am irritated to no end that I waited this long to blog this. I do, however, remember the details a bit more clearly than Monday's run.
Today started off like so many other days this year. A lot of hassle to go in for an interview for a job that turns out I would never want. This was approximately my 15th interview of the year. This one was my breaking point. I've stayed remarkably positive through this process, whether it's because I much prefer being poor to working, or maybe it is the endorphins from running, but this one just made me postal. Well, borderline postal. I came home and checked my email. I have actually been hired for part time temporary work, but the process has been long and arduous and it's been about a month, but I haven't actually started working yet. My email held the news that the office I had been placed in was only going to need me 2-3 days a week, instead of 5. Oh, there's postal.
I was already planning on running, but time was getting short before I had to go back and pick up Husband, and there was a threat of storms in the area. Not a "watch," just a threat, based mostly on the thick rolling clouds that were blowing through. However, when I read that email, I knew running was of the essence. As I was stretching, I was in full-on meltdown mode. Today was going to be a definite test to see if running was strong enough to bust stress. I was rocking a pair of shorts that actually had a pocket for my id, and a margarita t-shirt, as I would have preferred a margarita if I didn't have to pick up Husband.
Today I had ingested a Dew, homemade pumpkin bread, a couple of homemade whole grain crackers, and about 3 glasses of water.
I had written down the first stanza of "If" and left my mp3 behind. Partly because I knew the charge was low, but mostly because I thought this poem memorizing this was going to work, but not with music. So I set off with phone in one hand, and poem in the other - a lighter load than normal.
I was tired after 3 blocks.
My feet were still sore from Monday's run.
I was dizzy. (Argh!?)
But most of all, I was pissed. I went obsessively back through the morning's interview, which I always do, and find it leaves me with much less of a feeling of wasting time when I do it while running. I stomped through my rage about getting my hours cut before I even start a job. I stomped and stomped and stomped. By the time I got through the hills and to the end of the bottom of the Figure-8, about 1 mile, I was over it. Over it all.
I was much more concerned about the clouds. I had taken my sunglasses off, partly because it was so dark now, and partly to just keep a better eye on the clouds blowing in. (It was super windy, but it didn't seem to be hitting me in the face like normal.) I didn't like having my sunglasses off, because everyone and their mother was outside. I was spending a lot of precious energy saying hello, excuse me, and nodding kindly to people, even though I have sworn many times to not do that while I'm trying to run. I started worrying that I would have to stop when I got close to the house today, just for my own safety. I also wished I had my mp3, as I should be able to pick up the local radio stations on it and check the weather.
As I ran back towards the center of the Figure-8, I unfolded the poem. I had been worried I wouldn't adequately be able to run and read what was in my hand, but I managed. It was an okay distraction.
Nearing the intersection by the post office, I saw a sheriff's deputy at the stop sign. I was looking at the clouds, and looking at him, thinking, if there was about to be a tornado, surely he would pull up and let me know, right? Meh. He waved as he went by, probably wondering why I was staring so desperately at him, so I decided to keep going, and veered away from the house.
It was somewhere around this point of the run that I realized what I had been missing. I needed someone to tell me that I can't finish a 5K. (Someone besides myself.) I have removed all unsupportive people from my circle, which is great. But, there's still something in my character that pushes me harder when I am told I can't do it. Today, it was the weather that said, nope, you don't have 40 minutes before the flood gates open. You can't fit it in today. But I figure, what better way to wrap up the 5K, finally, than in the pouring rain with thunder and lightning and hail pounding around me. It would be festive, no?
Still, I was concerned, so as I rounded the post office, I sent off my first facebook-status-while-running, hoping someone would google the weather and post it in reply. No one did. That's cool. I wasn't real clear on what I needed, as I was texting while running.
Anyhoo, I round the post office and head down the long road that starts the top loop of the 8. There's a wee little dog and its owner ahead. And the dog mauled me. OK, it wasn't that bad. It actually did, I believe, attempt to bite my leg, but due to its tiny face and my giant leg muscles, apparently all I got was some drool. They're called ankle biters for a reason, and that's why I am always blogging doggie updates. Vicious crap machines.
I ran on, and got to the point where I had stopped on my last viable 5K attempt, and was ecstatic to still be going past the point of the crippling cramp. Granted, since I added on that extra block at the one mile mark, I had actually already ran farther than the last time.
This is it. I finish this street, and head up the heinous hill at the end. I was in sheer agony going up the hill. I made it, noting the ridiculous amount of Christmas decorations that had popped up at Tux's house, as I started my final leg back down the main road. It's still slightly uphill here, and I was just dying. I kept telling myself, you have run this stretch a billion times, in far worse condition that this. I crossed the street, because it seems somehow less difficult on that side, and I started repeating "If."
I think I very nearly blacked out along here. There were a couple of blocks where I don't really remember much. I just knew that I was too close to quit, so no matter what happened, I was finishing this thing. As I rounded the corner onto my street, I had the presence of mind to realize that right around there should be the actual 5K point. I had been running 40 minutes. (Later, I checked on the map, and that was the 5K point. I had done it.)
After all the commotion that made up this run, I still had one more neighbor to acknowledge, as I made the final push down my block. I ran up my alley, knowing with certainty I had ran more than 5K, and I almost felt like I could run some more!!! Absurdity! I decided it was best to stop, as I had already defeated the impending storm and the Finally 5K, and anything else just seemed like I would be pushing my luck.
I had been looking forward to The Victory Arms, but they didn't come until I was seated in my family room, in total disbelief. And they were pretty weak. I'll have to remember that if I ever run a real race, with a photographer. (Can you do Victory Arms if you don't win? I don't care.)
A couple of other notes...I only had to stop once, quickly, for traffic on this run. I also think this was the first run where I wore chapstick. My lips get sooo dry while I am running. If it wasn't this run, it was the next, but regardless, it is a lifesaver.
I started running on May 4. The program I used was 70 days, in theory wrapping up July 12th...I, however, had to repeat a couple of the weeks in the program, building my times and distances a bit more slowly. I finally made it to the 5K day on August 16th, a month late. I was pretty stoked that I made it, though. I wanted to give up many, many times. So I mapped out a distance of 5K, and set out to a huge Fail. I kept trying. Fail, Fail, Fail. A couple of times, I got close, but Fail. In frustration, and due to some small injuries, my runs have become more spaced out, but despite many threats to quit, and absolute certainty that I would never run 5K, I kept going. 22 tries later, I finally got through it on November 10th!! My 70 day program took 191 days and it feels GREAT!
You can't go from couch potato to 5K overnight; even if you can't do it in 70 days, it can be done, especially if you surround yourself with supportive people, put in a constant effort, and for the love of cocoa on Christmas, don't give up. And maybe a little homemade pumpkin bread will help, too. And rage at The Man. And threat of storm. And chapstick. Look, I knew all along there were a lot of variables to be managed. Now the question is...can I do it again..?
Weather: 72, Mostly Cloudy (Threat of Doom), 21mph Wind, 51% Humidity
Time: 1:45 pm; 41 minutes 45 seconds - Obviously my longest run time.
Distance: 5.19K (3.23mi) - Obviously, my longest distance.
Elevation: +92.2/-91/net 1.2 ft - For this momentous occasion, I included the elevation profile at the end of this post.
5K/10K: 40:07/1:24:47 - Nailed the 5K time. (I'll now be "Yay"-ing my goals of completing a 5K, and completing a 5K in under 45 minutes!) My times were not great, but better than in awhile. The threat of storms does wonders...Anyway, I counted it up, and this was my 14th best predictor overall, but only my 33rd best for just run times.
Overall, I have completed 23.62 hours of run/walk, covering 172.13K (106.97mi). My overall 5K/10K predictor average is 44:10 and 1:33:20.
My numbers for just running to date, which are less accurate, show 15.52 hours, covering 123.75K (76.89mi), with a 5K/10K predictor of 39:24/1:23:25.
And I go back to work Monday.
Ok, so this blog post title would look a lot cooler if I had thought far enough ahead to name my first post "Couch..." Especially since my first day of the Couch to 5K training plan found me sitting "on the couch for awhile. There's a lot of psyching up that has to go on, and that pisses me off, because I was so excited about this!" Way back on August 16th, as I set off in the early morning on what was supposed to be my first 5K distance, I thought of the title to this blog post, and it was the first time I realized I started this whole thing literally forcing myself off the Couch.
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