I had a great post written "in my head" Saturday morning. I was setting off to do a 6 mile run. It would have been the longest run I had ever done in my life. Before training for the Annapolis 10 Mile that I am working towards at the end of the summer, the farthest I had run was a 5K (3.1 miles) So, this would have been about twice that.
Ya know how they say don’t count your chickens before they hatch?
Yea…don’t write your blog achievements before you actually do them.
I learned a few more things on my run Saturday morning.
- The later in the day you run, the hotter it is and thus the harder it is to run. Sleeping in on Saturday was SO not worth it once I was running in the sun.
- Starting on a hill is the way to go. I clearly do not know how to pace myself. At home I start going up hill which really helps. This time I started down hill and then flat…I burned out fast.
- When given the choice of running beside the water or under the shade of a building, I go with the shade. Views are nice but when you are hot and tired, you’ll slow down for every tree you find.
- There is no stopping to get a rest for a minute… this is a deadly trap.
Yea, I tried that and I am sad to tell you I didn’t finish my run. I was tired, and I gave up. And the long walk back to my family waiting at the playground stunk.
I have never considered myself to be a competitive person. I played lacrosse in high school (by play I mean I wore the uniform while sitting on the bench). I didn’t really care if we won or loss, I was just there to have fun with my friends.
But walking back from my run, I felt like crying. I had a goal. I wanted to run 6 miles that day and instead I ran less than what I had done in the past. I couldn’t blame it on anyone. I had no excuse. I stopped. I didn’t meet my goal. I felt like for the first time I could relate to a receiver who was wide open but let the ball slip through his fingers, or the basketball player who missed the free throw shot…no one to blame but yourself.
By the time I met up with my crew, I had a new resolve. I would try again Monday. I would not give up. I have 4 weeks to prepare to run 10 miles. Currently I know I can run 4 without a problem. 6 to go… Had I not set this goal for myself, I am confident at this point I’d give up. I do not see that as an option since I have registered, blogged about it, and signed up with friends and family to run with me.
So today I will try again. I can only hope that the thrill of victory will be all the sweeter after tasting the agony of defeat this weekend.
But I won’t write that post yet…
I mentioned here, that I started running this summer. I am following a training schedule to help me reach my goal but it keeps changing the distance that I must run each day. Instead of guestimating (surely it’s been a mile by now) or driving the route with the car (like I really feel like loading the kids another time) to try to calculate the distance, my wonderful husband, the engineer, found me an online application made using google maps that is a HUGE help! I simply go to google pedometer and type in the starting address and trace out on the map the path I want to run and it calculates the distance for me (along with calories burned).
I do all my running on roads but if you wanted to you can switch to satellite view and trace out your path through the woods or city park. My husband told me it could even overlay a topographical map but that was beyond my interest level. Today, I had to run 3 miles to stick with my schedule, and I was able to type in my address and plan a route that took me that exact distance (padded with some intentional cool down time at the end). It worked perfectly (though next time I will check the topography to avoid the hill)! The picture below is the graph it generated telling me the elevation change.
Pretty cool.
Stick around and check out my 100th post!! or, to find out what is working for other people, check out Rocks In My Dryer.
Last week I registered for a 10 mile run at the end of August. For over a year now I’ve been wanting to do this. I ran a 5K for the first time when my son was a year old. I ran two more when my 2 year old was 6 mths old. Until last Tuesday, I hadn’t run since.
I waited through one of the mildest winter and spring seasons I’ve seen here and decided to start running during the week of record breaking heat. Yup, I’m a smart cookie.
I am following Hal Higdon’s guide to training for a 15K. If I stick with the program, I’ll be all set in time for my race, with even 2 weeks to spare. Good thing I had those cushions worked in there because last week I went strong on Mon and Tues and then when the power went out on Wed, I kinda got off track. I used the excuse that I didn’t want to excercise if I couldn’t shower afterwards. It made sense until Friday when the power came back on and I still didn’t go running.
So Monday, I was back to trying out week one. So far this week I’ve followed the schedule on Mon, Tues, and Thurs. I had to run 2 miles each time this week, so I am a mere 1/5 of the way toward my goal. Next week I am up to 3 miles which is pretty much the most I ever ran in my life. I am intimidated by this goal, but will feel SO great if when I accomplish it.
So far I’ve learned a few things from the process.
- You shouldn’t go running in the morning on trash days. The stink of garbage lingers in the trashcans even after the trash has been taken.
- Running with an MP3 player makes the run pass much more quickly.
- Having accountability to exercise makes a HUGE difference (Thanks Karen and Jen for registering with me!)
I’m sure as the summer progresses, I’ll have more profound wisdom to pass on to you.
I have been playing with the idea of doing a blog for some time. I think it is something I will really enjoy. I have really gotten into reading others blogs. I even have some blog friends who have no idea that I exist, but whose thoughts I read daily and think, “wow, these ladies are great. we would totally be friends!” Now it is my turn to enter the blog world and share my thoughts and musings with the world. I hope somebody enjoys reading them!
I had a great post written "in my head" Saturday morning. I was setting off to do a 6 mile run. It would have been the longest run I had ever done in my life. Before training for the Annapolis 10 Mile that I am working towards at the end of the summer, the farthest I had run was a 5K (3.1 miles) So, this would have been about twice that. 
