Something More

After the first mile

So I did go to the gym yesterday.  Was only going to walk/run for half an hour.  Started out slow because you want to warm up your muscles and not by doing jumping jacks or anything like that.  So I walked two laps then I ran two laps, then I walked two laps, and then I ran two laps.  That was a half mile.  I repeated this pattern for another half mile and then contemplated stopping.  But with the pending 3.1 mile race coming up and the fact that it was only 14 minutes out of the half hour I wanted to be there, I continued.  It's amazing how motivated you can get when you envision the headlines as you qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2010, 4 days before you turn 40.  That little fantasy kept me going for another mile, strictly walking but at not a bad pace.  Once you get the first mile done and hit the second mile, the third one doesn't seem quite so bad.  I even ran that last lap (well, hobbled is more like it) but I did it.  So 3 miles done in 47 minutes with a pace of 15:38 minutes per mile.  I just need to work on that a little bit between now and the 27th.  Oh that and being able to move the next day.  My legs are just a little sore, but I don't think it's from the running.  All the pain is on the back of my thighs which makes me think, it's from the weeding on Saturday.  Oh well, I'll try to run again tomorrow night.  I just need to bring it down to 14:30 minutes/mile to feel comfortable about the race in 12 days.

Running

In two weeks, I am running at Disney's Animal Kingdom in the Inaugural Expedition Everest 5K run, obstacle course and scavenger hunt.  My 16 year old son is my team mate.  Hopefully he'll wait for me to finish the 5k before he goes on with the rest of the events.  (actually he has to, we have to start the obstacle course and scavenger hunt at the same time.)  I've got about two weeks to get serious about doing some running.  Well, not really two weeks, I work full time and am taking three classes at SCC this semester so it's more like 7 days.  This should be a really neat race through the Animal Kingdom.  My doctor says running will help keep my weight down better than any diet.  I started getting Runner's World magazine and the people in the pictures looks so nice and toned, I want to look like them.  It would just help if I actually got out there and ran.  I did about an hours worth of yard work yesterday, weeding, bending over, picking stuff up.  My legs are a little sore, but since I have to go the grocery store and the gym is on the way anyway, I'll head to the gym first and run for about half an hour then go to the store.  Disney has a Princess 1/2 marathon starting in March that I would like to attempt and Tiffany said she would do it with me, so I guess I had better get running.