Saturday, April 21, 2012

My 1st 6.2 miles - The Nike Commercial - Whining & Winning

Maybe it was because was my first day running in seven days. Maybe it was because I had been downing Cold  Flu meds daily and nightly since last Monday. Maybe it was just ONE OF THOSE DAYS.

Today it was supposed to be the warmest day of the year (to date) so I wanted to get out early. I slept in, instead.

Today I was supposed to take Forest Hill Park, but there was another hill I have been meaning to try again....so I drove to that route. It is the same one I ran New Years Day morning during a race. Here is that original blog.

I ran the same 3.39 mile course as that morning and I SWEAR that course got harder. Not easier. I wanted to quit at 2 miles. I wanted to quit at 2.25 miles. Rinse, lather, repeat. It just seemed that it was a whole lot of uphill work in the 59 degree midday temps. Never ending.


The first three miles literally felt like the longest three miles I have ran to date. 


Then, I stopped and started walking back the way I came for the equivalent of about 4 houses and I started running again.

There were a lot of runners and bicyclists out this morning. The runners were all friendly smiles and waves. There were two totally separate girls that I saw - twice each - in my full loop and reverse. I suspect they too were doing full loops with reverses. Also, there was a set of girls running together that passed me. They looked so strong. Their cadences were equally matched. Posture perfect. Hair dry (mine was soaked).

They reminded me of the girl from the new Nike commercial - which by the way I LOVE. Here is the long version of it.


Speaking of bicyclists - is it just me, or - are bicyclists generally more anti-social towards runners? Today wasn't the first time I have smiled and flashed a wave at bicyclists only to receive little in return. It was really noticeable today as there were so many of them. Only ONE smiled and waved back. When I ride my Fuji on cross training days I ALWAYS smile and wave to runners.

Oh yeah! I learned something new today - Heart rate and perceived exertion are NOT synonymous!

For example, there are times my heart rate is up to 180 and I feel great. I can sing while running even. But today, running down hill at around mile 4, it took sheer guts to keep moving. My legs felt heavy. My shoulders hurt. Even felt some pain in my lower right side. For the first time in my life I even felt like I could throw up from the exertion. I looked at my monitor expecting my HR to be through the roof. It was only at 169. 

That was a new experience for me. Maybe it is the remnants of my being sick all week?

I drank all 10 ounces of my Gatorade during my 6.2 miles and I sweat so much that the brim of my hat was drenched. The back of my wicking singlet was soaked. My hair was dripping. I got home and weighed 1.5 pounds less than when I left even though I drank that 10 ounces and ate a Soy Joy in between. It wasn't pretty today. I am using my 24 ounce jug next time I go this far in warm weather and I will be diluting the Gatorade. It was too 'thick' for my taste when running.

My times? I ran the 10K in 1 hour and 19 minutes and 43 seconds. That is a 12:53 pace and includes the walk in the middle of the run.

Enough of the dismal! 

Here is the good stuff:

1:) I finished the 10K without dying. It was my first time in over 10 years.

2:) I took that hill which is 2 full miles of incline in the first 3.3 miles, without stopping a single time. I had to walk most of it the last time I ran it 3.5 months ago. (I will not dwell on how my average pace wasn't much different though)

3:) There was a lot of pretty scenery and beautiful spring flowers to enjoy.

Here are some cell shots from today's run - 


Cherry Blossoms were falling gently down 
onto me and the path




Some of the pretty scenery 



More pretty scenery 



They say if you look great after a run you are doing it all wrong.
I must have done it very right today. ;)



First half of the run 
Min Elevation 150 - Max Elevation 299
Total incline = 149 feet





1 comment:

  1. Adding on - It is 10:54 pm. Twelve hours later and dammit - my IT band is acting up. I was worried I was running sloppy between miles 4 and 5 and I am thinking I may have. That was the steepest downhill segment and downhills on my IT band is still an issue.

    There isn't any pain tonight...but you can feel it clicking over the bone on the upper middle/outside of my knee when I bend my knee tonight. I noticed it during some stretching and rolling.

    Freakiest feeling. I hate it. It really scares me.

    As one site describes it for folks who never had it: "sometimes the band can be felt flicking over the prominence at the bottom of the thighbone just above the knee"

    This is only the second time I ever noticed it doing that. Yuck.

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