....I guess...
So one day, long, long ago, I went for a run. I made notes after the run which include "Saturday," and "not sore from yoga." So, I shall presume since my last post was Friday, December 3, and I announced I wasn't getting out of bed the next day from yoga, that this run day was Saturday, December 4. I may as well go ahead and note, this was the last time I ran or otherwise worked out, as I got incredibly busy with the holidays, and working, and interviewing and, yes, finally getting a full-time job, which I start next Monday. My new boss is a half-marathoner who once ran a race in a hurricane. The water was up to her mid-calf at the starting line. I shall feel like a wuss every time we discuss our runs.
I feel bad about not finishing out the 30 day fitness challenge. I wanted to work out many times, but never did it. However, despite living off cookies some days, I maintained my goal weight and am finishing off the year 15-20 lbs lighter than last year (it was about this time last year that I started working out regularly to get that 15-20 lbs off)!
Before I get into the run from so long ago, I'll also mention that Husband got me a copy of "Once a Runner," a novel about running that is supposed to be very motivational, for Christmas. I read the first couple of chapters, but I need to finish another book I'm nearly done with before I get into it. I've seen this book on running must-read lists, so I'm sure I'll mention it again.
Alright, this run was a mess. I'll do my best to tell the story, but it would help you understand it if you could go sit in a freezer, or somewhere colder if possible (outside, maybe) while you read.
After having some pizza, a dew, and 3 glasses of water, I decided to go for a run. My stomach hurt, so at the last minute I threw back a peanut butter gingin. The last time I went to buy gingins, they didn't have the hard candy ones that I bought last time, but they did have chewy peanut buttered flavored ones. I wasn't thinking when I ate it.
It was cold that day (wind chill 15, as it turns out), so I pulled out my rocking long purple dance tights that I had from my ballet class, covered with long pants, long sleeve under armor, long sleeve tee, stocking cap, and fingerless mitts.
I set off. I ran down my alley, to the end of my street, around the corner, and something stabbed my toe. I glanced around but didn't see anything. I went a few more steps and felt it again. I looked at my shoe, the ground, and finally sat down on a small wall and took my shoe off. There was a little chunk of wood in there. I was greatly annoyed at this interruption to my run. I had run all of .08K (.05mi) and too much time had passed. I wasn't sure what to do, so I started walking toward the next corner. I took off from there 3 minutes after my original start time at .16K (.1mi).
I hadn't yet decided for sure what I was going to do to account for the lost time, so I did decide to take off like a bat out of hell. Based on my times, it shouldn't be a shock that I run obscenely slow. Little steps, sometimes almost being taken in place. Not today, I took off. Full on run. What was I thinking? I have no frakking idea.
As I turned toward the long, slightly hilly street to the school, I was wheezing. Like, if someone had seen me, they should have asked if I was okay. It wasn't panting, it was, there is no oxygen in my body. Oh, and that peanut butter gingin? That made for a lovely phlegmy cover to my mouth to just add to the misery. I was ready to quit. I specifically said, "Enough is enough." I had tried, but it was FREEZING and I was MISERABLE.
By now, I have completely repressed what technique I used to keep going, but I did. I definitely slowed down, and got my breathing in check somewhere past the school. Once I got my breathing in check, my sides started cramping.
When I turned around to head back past the school the other way, the wind was in my face. I had no breath, I was uber-snotty, the wind was making me tear, my stomach hurt, and I was phlegmy. And, according to my notes, I had no breath. (That's right, I listed that point twice.)
I continued toward downtown, but I was thinking our holiday parade was about that time, so I didn't repeat my run through downtown. I've just started staying a block further away from home in the middle of the run. Anyway, I saw a lot of runners. I saw people running to the ATM, people running to the library...I guess I am the only one who doesn't run in weather this cold!
I was finally better after I turned at the post office. My ears were cold, and my knees hurt/were stiff, but I was doing better. As I ran this loop of my Figure 8, I was thinking about how I had re-started my run at the block behind my house. I really wanted to make this a 5K distance. This was hands-down the worst run of all time, but even so, I was going to run 5K! If this was my last run EVER, I was going to be happy with conquering this nightmare of a run.
As I ran up the long main road towards home, I saw a dog across the street. I couldn't tell if it was chained, but it was acting a fool, like dogs do, kicking it's hind legs like a cat covering litter. There was an old man on the porch and he was kinda telling the dog to calm down, which made me think it was possibly loose, so I mustered the strength to yell over, "Is he tied up?" (Or something like that.) The old man didn't answer immediately, but then he said, "Yes, she is, but she wants to run with you." I don't know why, but it always seems like the rudest thing in the world to get an animal's sex wrong. I mean, it was dusk, and this is a wide road. It's absurd to think I could tell. Or maybe I just felt rude, because after he said that, I didn't reply a single word, just kept running. Ahh, I am the neighborliest of all the neighbors.
Anyway, when I got to my street, I ran past it, and up to the next block. I checked the time here --- as it turns out, I was almost at the 5K mark, and 40 minutes had passed. I ran past my alley and up to the street I stopped on, then around to my street, and up the alley. It was an odd path, but I wanted to make sure I had the full 5K in.
When I got in the house, my ears and face were ice pops. Husband asked me how my run was. I replied, "Horrible." The run was horrible, and the mitts probably need burned for all the snot wiped off on them, but I was quite happy to finish the 5K feeling that bad, and with an average time, too.
I have officially defined my temperature limits for running. It felt like 18 on Thanksgiving, when I had a great run. That is my lower limit. I believe 85 was where I preferred to stay under at the top. I can run on either side, but it SUCKS.
One other thing that has happened was that my town had a winter 5K the week after this run. I had toyed with entering - it's held at our big park, after dark. The park always puts up a lot of Christmas lights, and for the race there was supposed to be luminaries along the route, and Christmas music. Winners in each category got an ornament. As someone fully addicted to Christmas, I thought this should be my first race. Of course, I didn't run, I didn't even go. If I remember right, it was even warmer than average that evening. However, I did look at the results later, and there were quite a few runners, so one would expect some pretty good times. I wouldn't have finished last with my 40ish minute average...but at least one of the "walkers" would have beat me. It's official. When it gets warm enough (perhaps tomorrow!) to run again, I HAVE to look into doing speed work. My method of just sprinting almost killed me, so research will have to be done. I'm not all that interested in being in a race, but I want to SOMETIME, and I know I won't ever be the fastest, but I will not be beat by a walker!!
Weather: 28, Cloudy, 18 mph wind, 62% humidity, Feels like 15
Time: 4pm; 46:46 (includes 3 minute walk/shoe business)
Distance: 5.51K (3.43mi)
5K/10K: 42:07/1:29:02
Just run: 43:46
Distance: 5:35K (3.33mi)
Elevation: +86.1/-95.3/net -9.2 ft
5K/10K: 40:41/1:26:01
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