Finally back in the game

The Burgh saw quite a bit of snow from early to mid February. Fortunately, I got a run in the day before the clouds opened up and dumped almost two feet of snow on the area. Thanks to school cancellations and roads that still remained icy and snow-covered, I was unable to run for two weeks. But yesterday, I got back on the horse.

I managed to run a little over 1.5 miles; I was feeling pretty out of shape the first few minutes, so I did not run the entire length of the street, which is one mile, as I like to. I probably ran over a 10-minute mile (I kind of screwed up the stopwatch feature on my phone, so not completely sure), but considering my layoff, I was fairly satisfied.

My last half mile was punctuated by a steady rain, so not exactly ideal conditions, but what can you do. Be glad that the snow is melting and I can see pavement, which means I can run again!

That ice cream had nothing on me!

Yesterday, I helped serve ice cream (well, more specifically, I spooned sprinkles) at my kid's school. At one point, I helped myself to some of the soft-serve, complete with hot fudge, sprinkles, and whipped cream. And about 40 minutes later I went running.

I used the stop-watch feature on my cell phone, only to accidentally touch a place on the touch-screen phone that I should not have. And, alas, the time on the stop watch went away. But I tried again on the way back, and my second mile clocked in at 8:36. I am pleased with that, though I was running pretty hard (for me) down the hill at the end, doing my best to complete my mile in under nine minutes. For a brief time, I actually thought I was going to do it in under eight minutes, but decided if I pushed myself that hard, I would fall down the hill.

This (more or less) sprint made me think of the time I ran in the Montour Trail 5k (it used to be called the Ikea 5k, FYI). The first mile has a huge downhill at the beginning, and because of that, my first mile came in at 6-something. In fact, I think I had my best-ever time in that race back in 2002, with an impressive (to me) 23:53.

I still want to increase my mileage, but I am happy to end this week's runs with an improved time.

tick, tick, tick

I discovered today that my cell phone, which acts as a watch so I can keep a pretty close gauge of my running time, has a stopwatch. The next time I run, which will hopefully be Thursday or Friday, I plan on using it.

According to the time on my cell phone (before I discovered the stopwatch), it took me about 10 minutes to run up the street and just about nine to run down the same street yesterday. Actually, it was probably a little under nine; I had to stop to tie my shoe as I was practically careening down the ending hill.

I would love to do that two-mile jaunt in 18 minutes; actually, 17 would make me feel really good. But considering it is still cold around here (about 28 at most when I ran on Monday), I am not beating myself up about it too much. Plus, I have to wonder if it is counterproductive that my run always begins up a hill, and a tough one at that. When you start out winded, it is hard to pick up steam.

But I also wonder if I should start increasing my distance, rather than worrying about how long it takes me to run my usual two miles. The fear of biting off more than I can chew keeps me from running any farther. After all, I have had relatively little pain in the last month, and I have not run much more than two miles at a time, most weeks only one time. Last year, I would run close to three miles during some of my runs, and I would often run on consecutive days.

I guess I just hate to mess with a (pretty) good thing.

First running casuality

Yesterday when I ran, I put my keys in my windbreaker, without thinking. A few minutes into the run, I checked to be sure they were still there, as I tend to do several times throughout my run. (What do I think, I would drop my 10 keys without hearing them hit the ground?!) Sure enough, they were there. But then it hit me: they were in the zippered pocket that I had trouble unzipping last week.

I tried not to panic and worked at it a bit while running, then gave up to focus on my run. At the end of my shortened journey, which was punctuated by a rare headache and burning ears thanks to the dropping temps, I went into the church to try to get that blasted zipper open. After a few minutes, I gave up, and asked one of the church ladies to cut my pocket open.

And here I thought I would drop a glove, rip my pants, or break my phone long before I witnessed the death of a zipper.

Not feeling motivated

I had a decent run on Wednesday of this week. I forgot my mp3 player, but that did not seem to affect me too much, other than I felt kind of bored as I ran. I run up and down the same street, which makes me wonder if I should change the blog to "Running up and down the same street." Less catchy title, for sure, but more accurate. Regardless, I am not so bored that I am ready to pick another route; that beginning hill gets me every time, so shouldn't I master that before moving on? And I hate to pick a more flat route, thus taking out some of the challenge.

I should run today, now that I am back on my two-a-week run cycle, or so I thought. I just cannot motivate myself to put on the layers and running gear. And the gray skies are not helping. Unfortunately, I also need to stop at a funeral home after my run/when I pick up my kid, and I feel a little funny walking in with running pants and matted hair. Maybe I will just walk a little today, as I did yesterday. Speaking of boring...

Two this week

I just wanted to get a short post in so I could acknowledge that for the first time in over a month, I managed to get two runs in, in one week. Yesterday's run was close to 2.5 miles, so it was also the farthest I had run in quite some time.

The best thing about yesterday's run was the temps were actually in the 40s, a nice change for January. Running up the hill at the beginning was a little bit less challenging than it was on Wednesday, but still not easy.

The other positive was that my side does not hurt. Unfortunately, when I was done running on Wednesday, and pretty much for the next 24 hours, my left side was aching as it has done off and one since I started running again. I really need to look into this!

Gasping for breath

My most recent runs, prior to today, went well, as noted here. Thirty-eight had nothing on me! Unfortunately, today I found myself struggling as I trekked up the hill. I was not sure I would make the two miles, let alone one. But I refused to quit, so I panted pretty much non-stop. Thankfully, when I was down to my last 1/4 of a mile, "I Gotta Feeling" came on the radio on my mp3 player. Finally! I managed to get some speed going, made easier by the slight downward slope, though I was breathing pretty heavily. I must admit, though, I was glad when the song was over. I could not have kept up that pace, which I am guessing was about 5 to 6 mph. (I am doing my best to remember speed from when I used to run on the treadmill at the gym, quite a few years ago.)

After I did just over two miles, and walked for a minute or two, I decided to sprint for about 10 yards a few times. Well, run fast is a little more accurate. I was disappointed in the first half of my run, so I wanted to go out on a high note, or at least in a way that says I am not over the hall and out of shape.

I am glad the temps were right around 30; as I mentioned before, I loathe to run in temps under the upper 20s. Tomorrow and the next day, temps should be around 40, so I hope to be able to get a second run in this week. We'll see.