Monday, September 04, 2006

It Happened!

I had a great run. Now, don't get too excited, I didn't "love" it. But I liked it pretty well. I got up on Saturday morning (we were staying with my sister), what was left of Ernesto had passed through during the night and it left a wet, blustery, cloudy morning in its wake. It wasn't raining, but everything was thoroughly soaked.

My plan was to do my 5/1 intervals. I started off down the first hill (oh, I didn't mention that my sister's 'hood is hilly? Heck, yeah. And I have never run any hills, ever), slow, steady. At the bottom of the hill it started up, and continued up and up and up. So, 5 minutes into it, my watch beeps. I felt fine so I kept on, thinking at the next rep I'd stop. Still fine. The next? Still fine. The wind was so loud.

I followed Chris's advice from the Health Hacks Podcast and played a little bit- road, curb, grass, jump over stick, kick crab apple. My breathing was fine, my legs were fine. I really felt pretty good.

I clocked it later and I wasn't particularly far and certainly not fast... I was actually really slow. 2.66 miles in 34 minutes (13:07/mile). But, people, these were hills, and I. Felt. Fine. I stopped for a total of 2.5 minutes to walk. Fot the 1st time ever, I didn't murmur "this _____in' sucks." Not. Once. This is big.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

On another "It Happened" note (a much more important note): You know that friend that you never see and rarely talk to? The one that you don't speak to for months, maybe years, but when you do it's OK? It's still good? Call him or her. Struggle through the busy weekends and long distances and hammer out a time to get together. It's worth it. I did that this weekend. It was about the 5th legitimate attempt in the last year. Things come up. Real things. It didn't mean we didn't want to. It's just that life is busy and stuff comes up.The 3 of us traveled a total of 15 hours in the car (in the rain) with a total of 8 kids and a dog. We finally did it. It was lovely but way too short, and it left me wanting more. I am lucky to know these women and I want to dig deeper into the relationships. It is a damn shame that we live so far from each other and have such busy, busy lives.

It's all worth the effort, isn't it? A good run (after 3 steady months) and good friends (after 16 years). What a weekend. Hope yours was just as great.

4 comments:

Wes said...

I think the idea is to take your walk breaks, whether you think you need them or not. It helps you recover and really doesn't do much to your time. However, its all about YOU. If you want to push on, then by all means, push on. We all do. And who said thirteen minute miles were slow? LOL.

LBTEPA said...

13-minute miles is faster than someone sitting on the couch, mate!
And I am going to go and email my firend I've been neglecting RIGHT NOW. thanks for another thoughtful post

Mmem said...

I have a friend like that. I am happy to say she came over a few weeks ago. Probably won't see her till next April break when school is off for a week.

And WTG on that pace, that time in your run with all those hills! How cool that you PLAYED while running, what a concept!

Mrs. Snark said...

You gotta LOVE those moments when it all clicks and it feels good and everything is right in the universe. ;) Great job!