Oh, I got there!

Thanks to a late start, I had barely over 20 minutes to get in my run on Monday. So while doing my two-minute warm-up walk, I debated if I should try running the two miles, since that would not leave me much time after to stretch. Once I started running up the killer hill, however, I decided to really push myself, figuring if I was ever going to do that first, tough mile in under 10 minutes, this would be a good time to try.

I was panting pretty hard during this mile (though to be fair, the long, black yoga pants I wore on this warm sunny afternoon did not help), hard enough that I was thinking I had a pretty good chance of reaching the top of the hill before the stopwatch (i.e., my phone)  reached 10 minutes. As I hit the top of the hill, I thought I pressed the "lap" button on my stopwatch. But when I looked at it as I started down the hill, I realized I must not have. So even though the time read 9:55, I might have actually finished that first mile in about 9:53 or maybe even 9:50.

Woo-hoo!

But I don't plan on doing that too often...

Running through the pain

When I first starting running again, I would often write about various pains I felt. At one point, they seemed to be far and few between. Today, however, it occurred to me that I probably almost always have some pain, somewhere, when I run, but I just push through it and tend not to notice it so much. Hey, if professional athletes can sprain an ankle or injure a knee and get back out there sometimes during that same game, then I can't let a little pain stop me, right?

This morning it was about 55 degrees when I ran. I was kind of cold in my shorts and t-shirt, which was the opposite of how I felt when I ran in long yoga pants Monday afternoon when it was in the mid 70s. I can never seem to dress right. And right after I felt the chill in the air, I noticed my ankle hurt. I was pretty much willing it and myself to keep going, and eventually, the pain lessened. Or maybe I was too busy being chilly.

By the end of the run, I hardly felt my ankle pain, and a leg pain I had felt in the middle of the run also went away. At that point, I was glad I was in shorts and a t-shirt and happy to have run a good distance. I ended up running about 4.8 miles, my longest since 2002, in about 47 minutes.

It is also worth noting that when I ran my "regular" route on Monday afternoon, I finished the first, tough uphill mile in just over 10 minutes, which was my best to date, even if only by a few seconds. I am still searching for that elusive sub-10-minute first mile.

I will get there.

A pretty good workout week

I started my Labor Day with a run around Indiana County (particularly, my mom's neighborhood). I added an extra street or two, so I ended up running around 3.3 or 3.4 miles (my best guess, based on my time, which was around 35 minutes) at a fairly easy pace. I really like that run. The hills don't seem awful.

Wednesday, I ran around my neighborhood, visiting streets I had not been on since 2002, when we bought our house. One of the hills was an absolute killer, but it felt good to complete it, even slowly. I am guessing I ran about 4.5 miles, again based on my time, which was around 45 minutes. Mostly I am glad that no one ran me over; a couple of times cars came pretty close, which I found surprising since I was running up the street (barely a hill) for quite some time. It was not as if I were darting across the street out of nowhere. This is why I no longer run while listening to music.

Today, I ran up and down the steps near my kid's school 20 times, with a break halfway between. I did that in about 17:30, but not sure how that compares to previous attempts. I did not feel as if I was running (well, jogging) as fast as I normally do, but I blame that on yesterday's run. When I completed the steps, I ran around the upper lot for about 12 minutes, ending with a sprint for the last 30 seconds. I hope that I did not correctly count my bpm; if so, when I finished my sprint, I was at 200, which might have put me close to a heart attack. But within a couple of minutes, I was down around 100, so I am guessing not.

Tomorrow, I will be subbing for the gym teacher, so I should get some jogging in during the kids' warm ups. All in all, I call this a good week. I feel (and felt) pretty good overall and I "mixed" it up a little.

My longest run since, well, a long time

Yesterday, I ran (well, mostly jogged) up and jogged (perhaps closer to a fast walk) down the 65 steps in the school lot about 22 times. I felt it during and after, but just not enough to give myself a day off today. With that in mind, this morning I decided to try a longer run, without pushing myself speed-wise.

I did not time my first (usual) mile, though it was probably around 11 minutes. The middle part of my run was on Greensburg Pike, which I used to run on when I lived in the Forest Hills/Chalfant area. I sped up a little during that part because I noticed two senior citizens running at about the same pace as I was; there was just no way I was going to let grandma and grandpa outpace me! Fortunately, there are no killer hills on that road, just some smaller up- and downhills, and I ended up running that leg of the journey in under 25 minutes. I tried to take a slight advantage of the last, mostly downhill mile (I again passed the grandparents), though that mile still took me about nine minutes to complete.

I ended up finishing the run in 45 minutes, give or take a minute. When I measured the jaunt, I was happy to see I ran almost 4.5 miles. I am guessing the last time I ran that far was during the Great Race in 2002 (I actually ran 6.2 miles, since I ran the 10k).

The thing about running races, at least for me, but I bet for most people, is you don't really need to run that distance on a regular basis. If you can run close to it without taxing yourself too much, then you will probably be fine to run farther. This entire summer, I ran 3 miles only twice, and yet I managed to run the 3.1 5k on Saturday just fine.

Anyway, I felt pretty good at the end of today's run, confident I can run even farther next time. So much so, that if I were going to be in town on September 26, I would so be running the Great Race (at a very slow pace, mind you). I guess I will just have to try to get in some more longer runs, for my own satisfaction.

Another run around the track

Although I can now run my usual route near my kid's school, there was no way I was going to do it today when it was 90 degrees (or the next two days for that matter). So I decided to run in the morning instead, around the local track.

I ran the first three laps at about two minutes each, pushing myself because I had no hills to contend with. Unfortunately, during the fourth and final lap of my first mile, I could not keep up the pace, so I ended up finishing the mile in about 8:10 or 8:15. I guess I should be happy considering I typically run my second mile in my usual route (the one with the big downhill at the beginning and the end) at around 8:30. But I tend to focus more on what I can't do, or at least what I end up not doing well.

I spent the next a little over two miles alternating between sprinting (for me, anyway) and jogging about 110 yards each (the sprints were probably a little farther). I tended to do each one between 19 and 22 seconds. After the first few intervals, I generally felt overworked and tired during the sprints. Even though I did not seem to be running fast (and my form was surely not pretty), I could not muster up the stamina to run any faster. Yet when I did my recovery jog, I typically felt okay at the end. If I had jogged a greater distance in between each sprint, I might have done better overall. Who knows.

Regardless, I am glad I "mixed it up"; when you do the same thing over and over, your body gets used to it. Plus I recently read that a good way to increase your speed is to throw in some sprints. Tomorrow I hope to get a regular run in, though maybe for only two miles. If not, then I will plan to get in good run on Thursday. I gotsta have goals!

I ran around the square!

It took me almost four years to run in a 5k race (and about 11 months since I started running again), but I finally did it. Yeah, me!

Here are my thoughts:

• I was pretty nervous last night, and I did not sleep well as a result.
• When I arrived in Regent Square this morning, I had a lot of trouble finding a parking space. In 2002, there were 865 runners. This year, there were almost 1,600 runners plus 372 runners who ran the 1.5-mile race (which did not exist in '02). Quite a difference.
• When I walked from my car to the start (a few blocks), my ankle hurt. Fortunately, that went away.
• It was a beautiful day for a race. Probably around 60 degrees with low humidity when it started.
• It was weird not to have someone to start off a race with; when I used to run 5Ks, I almost always had my friend Zuri and/or MBB to begin a race with.
• For the first time in a race, I waited until almost everyone else had started running before I crossed the starting line, which took almost three minutes. Back in the day, I would try to stand/start with the eight-mile pace crowd.
• I liked waiting around to start (well, except that it meant I had to dodge the walkers). Less pressure and fanfare.
• Along with a smile, I am pretty sure I got a tear in my eye as I began the race. It felt good to be doing this again.
• I was glad to see the people cheering, singing, playing instruments (love me some steel drums), and passing out beer and champagne along the way. Great motivators.
• I actually took advantage of the downhills, more so at the end.
• Having run this 5k only once and eight years ago at that, I had forgotten how the course went, so I really could not "plan" for my best pacing.
• Now having just run it, I can say it was probably a good layout--you start off mostly flat and slightly downhill, then you move to a tough mile 2, which is mostly uphill. The last approximately half mile is downhill, which gives you a chance to kick it in.
• I am so glad I did not trip; between the cobblestone in the first mile and the rocky trail for another 1.5 miles, I came close at least once.
• A few times during the second mile, I contemplated running very slowly. In fact, at one point the thought of walking crossed my mind; the uphill climb, although not steep, seemed never-ending. But I just went with a slower-than-usual pace to get through it.
• And that meant I had the energy to pretty much sprint down the final hill.
• When I finished the race, I had a smile on my face (and, I am pretty sure, another tear in my eye).

The most notable thing about this race compared to what I remember from previous ones was that I did not push myself super hard. As I mentioned in another post, I used to be very competitive, so I would give it my absolute all, more so than a regular run. But this time, as evidenced by my waiting so long to start and taking it easy up the hills, I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it and do it with a little grace.

Yes, in the back of my mind, I wanted to finish in about 30 minutes. But last week, when I realized I finished the Run in 28:14 when I was in the best running shape of my life eight years ago, I was pretty sure 30 minutes was not going to happen, and I was just going to have to be okay with that.

Ultimately, I finished it in 30:08. I am really proud of myself, though, honestly the tiniest bit disappointed that I did not finish in under 30 when I clearly could have. Because I ran no harder than I do when I run regularly (and probably even less hard), I could have sprinted another quarter of a mile for sure at the end. Had I known where the finish line was, I would have run even harder/faster those last few tenths.

But the good news is that because I did well and yet did not quite achieve that under-30 time, I want to run in another 5k to prove to myself I can do.

Oh, I plan on it.

Last run before the race

Today I ran my two-mile route at my kid's school just before pickup. School is back in session, which means so is, hopefully, more regular running for me. I had really wanted to get a three-mile run in, but I played tag and raced with my kid off and on for over an hour yesterday, so I did not want to push myself too much today. That and I could not get this vision out of my head: Running my old route and falling or getting an awful cramp, rendering me unable to make it back to my car in time. As a result, my kid is left waiting for me in the parking lot, wondering why my car is there, but not I. Actually, she would not be wondering; she has expressed this very fear to me sometime. :-(

I think the run went well. I did my first mile is 10:07, which might be my best time for that not-so-fun mile (wish I had recorded my times more often). I did my second (easier) mile in 8:26, which is probably also my best second mile (I made sure I took advantage of the downhill today, fear be damned!). I did end the run with a couple trips up the 66 steps, but I felt an odd pain in my upper thigh, so put the kibosh on that pretty quickly.

Am I ready for Saturday's race? Not really. But all that I can do is give it my best and hope that I find a nice balance between pushing myself more than when I usually run and not overdoing it so I end up having to jog slowly or (gasp!) walk at some point.

Wish my luck! I will need it.