RUN TODD RUN, Week 14

SATURDAY, 7/31/10
As I mentioned in the last post, for the past couple of weeks, my runs have felt too close together. Running every other day has been tough because I haven't been able to really count on my legs. Since I'm fairly new to running, I'm not sure I've gone slow enough to condition my legs and they're just too week at this point to do a daily, or even alternating daily, run.

For this week, I decided to take two days off in between runs. I felt good about this since I've gone off sugar for the past week-and-a-half. (The no-sugar thing is great for me...my body responds really well to it, so I don't feel guilty about going to bed without exercising.)

I ended up going longer than two days in between runs, but that was fine. I got out Saturday night and figured I'd try to hit 25 minutes again. (Running for me is always a long argument between my body and my mind. At around minute fifteen, my body is petitioning very hard to quit while my my mind is resolute. "No! We said we're doing 25 and we're going to do 25!")

I felt great. Didn't really hit a wall until 15 minutes in, but soldiered on. At minute 20, I started to think, "Could I hit 30 minutes tonight? Is today the day?"

You see, I've been dreaming about hit the 30 minute mark. I know I'm not fast enough yet, but I've read that once you've got a good steady speed, 30 minutes gets you right at 5k. Now, I realize I'm not fast enough yet, but for some reason I've wanted to hit that 30 minute goal since day 1.

At 25 minutes, I was thinking, "Just quit, Todd. You hit your goal. That's fine." But I kept running.

At 27 minutes, I hit a big hill and started saying to myself, "Come on, Todd. You can do it." And I kept running.

At 28 minutes, I wanted to quit so bad. "You're so close..." I felt a grin creeping up. And kept running.

At 29 minutes, I was smiling. "One more minute! One more minute!" Just 60 seconds more of running.

I did it.

I ran 30 minutes.

TUESDAY, 8/3/10
My 2-day plan seemed to work. Had no leg pain or weakness.

Got out there much later than I planned. I had hoped for a little light from the sunset, but didn't get out to run until after 9pm. Little known fact - when you run at night, everything looks like a snake. On my first lap, I ran right up on something that looked very reptilian and ended up executing a crazed, terrified leap over the object. (I think it actually was a large rubber band.)

Somehow, I landed wrong from that little jump and dealt with a few minutes of pain. Nothing major, just that Oooh-I-hope-I-don't-sprain-my-ankle sort of thing. After a few minutes, it was okay.

The run was going okay. Hit my 20 minute mark and started mentally preparing myself to go the last ten and hit 30 again. At minute 21, I bumped my phone and froze the stopwatch program for about a minute. I fixed it as soon as I realized it, and estimated I had run for about a minute that was untimed. Rather than mentally add that minute back in, I just kept running as if it was still 21 min.

I was feeling okay about the run...not fun, but I was dedicated...when my phone died at minute 23. I persevered and kept running, but I'm not sure I made it quite to 30. If I had to guess, I'd say I came in somewhere around 27 minutes total. It demonstrated how much I'm still relying on that stopwatch to keep me going that extra two minutes, etc.

Probably will have some soreness from hitting a long run again, but maybe the 2-days off will ensure some strength. Next run would be on Thursday, but since I can't run post evening rehearsal, I might have to do a morning run. Ugggh.