day 83

An hour and forty minutes of running today.

My husband was ill with food poisoning last night (maybe I had a mild touch of that after all) so I didn't sleep much. Felt more like crap than like racing today! But I got up, had some dessert tofu and ginger ale for breakfast, and jogged out the door about 15 minutes before the start. It wasn't far; I jogged around for a bit once I got there, and threw in some faster portions, but still pretty conservative. No strides or anything like that. My legs felt kind of dead.

But it was perfect running weather! About 4-5 C...I was a bit overdressed, so I carried my hat. Wish I'd gone with lighter shorts after all--I'd set out my clothing the night before, and then changed out of the lighter shorts into a heavier pair when I read the forecast. I had a long sleeved shirt which I tied around my waist--I didn't plan on going to the bag drop so I figured that the long sleeved shirt would be warm enough to wait in and light enough to carry.

No watch; I wish I had the splits for curiosity's sake, but I wanted to focus on form and drive and so forth, not numbers.

I passed a bunch of people at the start; I felt a bit odd doing that, but it felt worse to put the brakes on, and it was still a not impossible level of effort. No lactic acid, just generally slightly dull legs. Sometime after the first K, things thinned out and I was mostly on my own, just trying to keep up with random people in front of me. Around this time, some guy in khakis (no joke!) blew by me but he didn't stay too far ahead and I didn't lose sight of him. And I started passing people again, one here, one there. I'd pick a person, and drift closer and closer and eventually pass them.

Meanwhile, I was trying to remind myself of form pointers, breathe deeply, keep some lift in the hips, keep the right arm from doing the funky thing it sometimes does, keep core tight...my form didn't feel that solid today, but it was better than I'd expected. Meanwhile, mentally, I was doing well. I really was. I accepted the discomfort and kept my rhythm pretty well, kept slowly reeling people in. I saw a few at the turn around that I vowed to not let pull ahead...I ended up passing them eventually.

I missed seeing the 3K marker--thank goodness, because that's a hard place for me mentally. I started counting, kept coasting up to a couple of people--the khaki guy was still ahead--he dropped back at one point and then passed me again but, once more, didn't get too far ahead. I forget who I passed, but I don't think anyone else passed me. There was one guy in bright green who was getting closer--I didn't figure I'd pass him. Shortly before the 4k marker, I was feeling pretty fatigued. That was the lowest point for me. But, hey, I could see the 4K sign, and some stuff to break up the stretch before it, and that helped me dig in a bit. I passed the guy in green sometime, I forget when. There remained the guy in khaki but at this point I was looking for landmarks and counting and more within myself, I guess. I felt semi latched onto him, but there wasn't really anyone close ahead of him--it seemed pretty empty! So counting and landmarks seemed more encouraging! LOL

I had no kick, but I finished and nobody pipped ahead of me. Felt awful, burning guts, after the finish but I bent over and it went away quickly.

Time: 22:54. So, a bit slower than I would have liked last year or before, but a good starting point for this year, I think! Got my B goal. Got an idea of where I am too, and what to aim for next.

Jogged a bit afterward, then ate and drank a bit, and took the dog for an hour jog just because the weather was so nice and I didn't feel quite finished. Then resistance exercises. I tried arm pumps (or whatever they're called) for the first time in a long time...still sort of uncoordinated. I got into a good swing with the sit ups, though. They started to burn around 60, and I figured that, hey, that was a productive feeling, so I went past 70, almost enjoying the increasing discomfort (I want to get stronger and it's a sign that I'm getting stronger) and got to 80 situps. Tried to tap into this mindset for other exercises, too, especially the single leg stuff. Now, if only I could integrate this more into running too!

There's a 5K next weekend that we might do--I'm definitely tempted! There's pretty much a 5K each weekend until Race Weekend which is very convenient. Best way to do what I consider tempo runs! lol