It was only 2.85 miles...but it was awesome!
As part of injury recovery training and issues with my breathing, I've lost over two minutes per mile in my pace. This has helped me start to build up my distance and endurance, but it's been tough to get excited about the string of barely-sub-11-minute miles lately.
Walking out the door to drive to the park for my run, my husband tells me he needs to leave in about 30 minutes for the Rams game. (He's not a Rams fan, but is a football fan, and tonight is the first home pre-season game.) "I'll do my best," I reply, thinking "do you know how slow I've been running?".
But as I had already talked myself in and out of this run several time this afternoon (having a Moose Drool Brown at lunch and a wicked hole in the bottom of my left foot from stepping on my son's toy seemed like good excuses to bail) I opted to grab a coconut icy pop (not the healthy kind) for the drive and sugar, and headed out.
In the parking lot while getting my Nike+ and Charity Miles apps ready, a man walking with a cane toward the same path kindly smiled at me and asked, "Ready for a jog?". I shook my head from side to side and answered, "No, but I'm going to do it anyway." He chuckled and continued on.
My run started with the same heavy-legs feeling I've been experiencing, but I tried to block it out with thoughts of my daughter's first race tomorrow morning. She is 5 and will be running in the Lil' Princess Run after my Diva Dash 5K. She is ecstatic about the run, but more about the medal and tiara she will get at the finish.
At the 0.5 mile mark, my Nike+ app tells me I'm running about a 9'30" pace. WHAT?! Whoa! I don't feel like I'm going that "fast". Maybe I should slow down? I keep running. I sing along with Dave Matthews and think about a new Chafing The Dream tee-shirt design.
At the end of 1 mile, I'm at a 9'27" pace...at 2 miles it's 9'13"...and at 2.5 miles it's 9'07". Holy expletive!
I want to continue on to 3 miles just to see my pace for that mile, but know that my car is before that mark and my husband is waiting. I stretch out my stride-something that hasn't been happening for a few months-and convince myself it's okay to slow down for the last part of my run.
I was completely surprised to discover that I hadn't really slowed down. I finished the 2.85 miles at a 9'05" pace, hitting a top, somewhat sustained speed of 8'30" and staying under 9-minutes for almost the last half of my run!
Walking out the door to drive to the park for my run, my husband tells me he needs to leave in about 30 minutes for the Rams game. (He's not a Rams fan, but is a football fan, and tonight is the first home pre-season game.) "I'll do my best," I reply, thinking "do you know how slow I've been running?".
But as I had already talked myself in and out of this run several time this afternoon (having a Moose Drool Brown at lunch and a wicked hole in the bottom of my left foot from stepping on my son's toy seemed like good excuses to bail) I opted to grab a coconut icy pop (not the healthy kind) for the drive and sugar, and headed out.
In the parking lot while getting my Nike+ and Charity Miles apps ready, a man walking with a cane toward the same path kindly smiled at me and asked, "Ready for a jog?". I shook my head from side to side and answered, "No, but I'm going to do it anyway." He chuckled and continued on.
My run started with the same heavy-legs feeling I've been experiencing, but I tried to block it out with thoughts of my daughter's first race tomorrow morning. She is 5 and will be running in the Lil' Princess Run after my Diva Dash 5K. She is ecstatic about the run, but more about the medal and tiara she will get at the finish.
At the 0.5 mile mark, my Nike+ app tells me I'm running about a 9'30" pace. WHAT?! Whoa! I don't feel like I'm going that "fast". Maybe I should slow down? I keep running. I sing along with Dave Matthews and think about a new Chafing The Dream tee-shirt design.
At the end of 1 mile, I'm at a 9'27" pace...at 2 miles it's 9'13"...and at 2.5 miles it's 9'07". Holy expletive!
I want to continue on to 3 miles just to see my pace for that mile, but know that my car is before that mark and my husband is waiting. I stretch out my stride-something that hasn't been happening for a few months-and convince myself it's okay to slow down for the last part of my run.
I was completely surprised to discover that I hadn't really slowed down. I finished the 2.85 miles at a 9'05" pace, hitting a top, somewhat sustained speed of 8'30" and staying under 9-minutes for almost the last half of my run!
AWESOME! Thanks for asking :).
Jumping in my car to head home, the radio is playing G. Love and Special Sauce's I Like Cold Beverages,and I say aloud, "Why yes, so do I," and sing along loudly with the windows down. After all, I think I've earned a cold beverage. As a matter of fact, I'm drinking one right now. (Well, maybe not "right now" when you are reading this, but you know what I mean.)
What's next? I think I'll do my PT exercises, and then play with my kids, oh and shower, and maybe enjoy another cold beverage in honor of football season. ¡Salud! Cheers! Prost!
©Erin Croley
What's next? I think I'll do my PT exercises, and then play with my kids, oh and shower, and maybe enjoy another cold beverage in honor of football season. ¡Salud! Cheers! Prost!
©Erin Croley
Originally published at Chafing The Dream. Check it out here.
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