Week 6 Day 2

Date: 12/23/09
Time of Day: 9:30 PM
Location: Marriott Route

Conditions: 51 degrees F, windy
Music: New Yorker Fiction Podcast
Clothing: Long sleeve wicking shirt, hockey compression shorts, shorts

Shoes: Nike Air Pegasus 26+

 

So, if you're like me, you've noticed that it's taken me forever to get through Weeks 5 and 6. Life's been getting in the way a little. My boss quit, so work is stressing me out. Plus all kinds of hockey games put me home late at night. Then, of course, Christmas.

 

Long story short, I'm getting a little out of my routine. Hopefully I'll get back into it. I've already planned on bringing my running stuff to my mom's to run tomorrow. Christmas Day and W6D3 will be one and the same.

 

Anyway. To the run. As I mentioned on Saturday, I really didn't have any trouble getting through the run, I just ran out of time.

 

It was very windy when I went out last night, though. The first 10 minutes were actually a little harder than I was expecting. Of course, I'm getting out of my routine, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Also, when I was showing the route to a friend the other day, I realized that the entire out portion of the route is uphill. Probably explains why I had so much trouble with the 20. I was trying to do it uphill.

 

Anyway, I knew that if I got through the first 10, the second should be a lot easier since it would be on the downhill.

 

It was hard, but it wasn't the hardest run I've had. I didn't feel like I was going to die or vomit or anything when the first 10 ended, but I did feel the need to make the 3 minute walk a little slower than usual. Considering I had another 10 coming up, I'd be sure to be rested. I'd never run two runs that long back-to-back.

 

The second run, as I mentioned, was mostly on a gradual downhill. Thus, it wasn't that difficult. Again, it wasn't exactly easy. You can't just go get on a 26.2 mile slope and expect to finish a marathon, but it is easier on your legs.

 

When the cooldown chimed, I was in the middle of crossing an intersection. I figured it wasn't safe to just suddenly pull into a walk in the middle of the intersection, so I ran through it. When I hit the sidewalk, I decided to run until the pavement changed. When I got there, I decided to run out the cooldown.

 

Thus, my second interval was 15 minutes. Even on a downhill, I'm surprised that I'm able to push that far when less than 3 months ago I struggled to get a minute. And now I can run 15 minutes after already running for 10 minutes.

 

The worst part of the run, honestly, was the podcast. It was a short story read by this woman with the most grating, nasally voice. And it never seemed to end. I lost the plot because I was so focused on how she overpronounced words that it was about to drive me mad. It was almost like I was trying to run away from her. But it was done. I only have one more podcast left on my New Yorker Fiction. Then we'll have to move into something new.

 

So tomorrow...I try the 25. I'm not that worried. I've done 20. It's just five more minutes...and I've shown that I have no trouble getting just 5 more minutes. I'll probably do a brief warmup run before I go for it...but unlike the 20, I'm not worried about it at all.

 

25 on the 25th! That's the goal!