 |
| I brought the note Greg left me on my run. It didn’t make me run faster, but it did make me smile. |
I made it through my second ten mile run for my half marathon training! Got up Thursday at 5 a.m. and headed out. It was close on making it out of bed… I had been dreaming that I’d missed my alarm and slept and it was 7 a.m., and I was kind of disappointed to wake up at 5 and realize that nope, I wasn’t off the hook, it was time to go for a long run.
I have been doing the same route for my long runs and decided I really needed to mix it up and go somewhere different, so I headed out in the opposite direction than I normally do. Saw a lot more runners going the direction I did – which is good and bad. It’s nice to feel a little comeraderie when you see a couple other people running at 5:30 a.m. I especially love seeing someone forty minutes into the run, then again an hour and a half into the run, because you’re both doing out and back runs in opposite directions. The second wave is always a little more emphatic, as if you not only are acknowledging them as a runner, you’re acknowledging that you’re both out on long runs. I especially cherish that second wave since to me it feels as though I’m redeeming myself in their eyes for running so slow. I’m slow, but hey, I’ve been doing this for over an hour too!!!
Highlights of my run:
Greg left me a note on the sink where I had my running stuff all laid out wishing me good luck on my run. (Boy did that make me glad I got out of bed rather than hitting snooze!)
I ran 3 miles yesterday so I thought it’d be fun to run 10.1 today, and then I would have completed a half marathon in under 24 hours. I did it 🙂 Ran 10.2. I’ve completed a half marathon in 23 hours! Just need to shave like 20.5 hours off my time. I’ve got six weeks. No problem, right?
The sky was beautiful.
I got passed going uphill by two guys who are at least a generation older than I am, and who showed no signs of slowing down. This is a highlight because it reminds me how much better I can get with more running experience! Also, I just love seeing a guy who is probably in his sixties kick a twenty nine year old’s butt. Even when the twenty nine year old is me. There’s just something awesome about that.
 |
|
This guy passed me going uphill when he was running in the other direction.
I saw him the second time and took a picture for you guys so you can see what an awesome runner looks like.
Also, this gave me a reason to stop.
(I hope this isn’t too creepy and weird, but maybe you can picture this guy passing me
during a tough point in your run and it’ll make you smile!)
|
Lowlights of my run:
Calves. Mile 2-4. Burning. Shouldn’t have pushed so hard up that hill yesterday with Andrew in the jogging stroller. AHHHH!!! I kept thinking about how great it was that I was getting to run through some discomfort because it was making me stronger and preparing me for the half marathon. I didn’t really believe it. Had to tell myself to shut up after a while.
Quads. Mile 7-9. (I never feel much during the last mile.)
ELEVATION! Greg warned me about one of the hills coming back on the road I took. He wasn’t kidding. The elevation gain from this run was 350 feet. The elevation gain on my previous long run was 182 feet. Ask my calves and my pace what they think about that. However, this is also a highlight, because the half marathon I’m training for has “only 2 areas of uphill running where you will gain less than 90 feet over 2 miles in each of these two section”. I can do that. I’ve done better than that. Awesome. (I’ll remind myself of this when I get to those sections.)
 |
| If you don’t press stop when you get home, it’ll look like you took four hours to do a two hour run. Whoops. |
Yeah buddy! Love the note and the picture! BTW Are you doing any speed work?
I am not, I feel like I should be but honestly adding more mileage seems like enough of an additional challenge without it. I think I will start focusing on some speed work after my half in September… There’s a 10K in October I’d like to do well at!
You doing any speed work? I am looking forward to reducing mileage and doing some speed work and strength training with the extra time after I do my half marathon!
I am! Once a week I do either 400 repeats or a tempo run. It’s very tough, but worth it. I hope.
Nice! Good for you I bet it’ll help! I really should!
Good job! I once passed a really fit looking girl and felt really good about it and then on my way back that very same run I got passed by a middle-aged guy *wearing JEANS*; talk about a reality check! Are you following any particular schedule or program for your training?
Also the highlight of my long run yesterday was seeing a woman with 3 elementary school aged children all out running. As I was approaching them from the opposite direction she yelled back to the kids, “we only have to run for 30 more seconds” and I laughed and said “Couch to 5K?” and she said “Yup!” to which I replied “Good job!” Having grown up in a completely sedentary household it was really nice to see a family getting active together.
JEANS?!? Ok that guy must have been late and sprinting somewhere for three blocks! Right? Let’s go with that! too funny.
That’s so cool about the mom doing couch to 5k with her kids, what a great thing to do as a family and a great example to set for her kids, too!
Nope, we’re talking a rail trail in the woods in the middle of nowhere… It’s not likely he was running *to* something…
Sometimes I want to yell “I look better in a dress!!!!” But thinking it is enough 🙂
Hi! Congrats on the great run! I found your blog through the newbie boards on CoolRunning.com and you’re keeping me inspired. 🙂 I’m on week 7 of Couch to 5k, and it’s an awesome feeling to put the early morning runs in the books and have that sense of accomplishment for the rest of the day.
Good luck!
Thanks! I completely agree, it’s worth getting up early to have it out of the way and feel accomplished the rest of the day. When I run mid-morning I always feel like I can’t eat a full breakfast, and I don’t want more than a cup of coffee… those early morning runs are way better 🙂
congrats, you’re almost through Couch to 5k! Week seven was the hardest week for me so you are clean sailing soon 🙂
Thanks, Kelly. I’m looking forward to finishing the program and starting to work some flexibility into my training. Also, can’t wait for the summer heat to let up so I can start running outside more! I’m in south Louisiana and we’ve been hitting 105-110 degree heat indices pretty regularly lately. Yuck! Treadmill gets a little boring, but at least it’s predictable (and cooler!).
That’s INSANE heat!!!!!!!