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Keeping pace.
Sep. 3rd, 2013 09:28 amMy last few runs have me feeling a little less motivated. Which is frustrating, because I am so close to 5K that I could probably push myself to do it if I had the ideal time and conditions.
I've been running in the evenings in the past week because the boys have started school and it was beyond difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6:00 a.m., let alone get other people ready to go. The problem with this is that the evenings are far more humid, sticky, and hot, even if I wait until after 6 pm. On Sunday, I ran in the evening a few hours after having a big lunch at a family reunion, and so I was already feeling rather heavy/slow. It was so dreadfully hot and humid that day that I gave up at around 2.0 miles. I could have gone further, but it felt like torture. When I came home, my left knee had that lovely grinding sound, so I had to ice it up and take ibuprofen, but was rather sore there for the next day.
This morning I got up at about 5:35 a.m. (I usually have to get up at this time to make sure Oldest is awake and getting in the shower for school). Instead of going back to bed, as I would like to do, I got dressed and made a little coffee, ate a banana and a spoonful of peanut butter (yes, I know), and then went for a run. This was far cooler and therefore I definitely did not wear down so quickly, but because I didn't leave the house until 5:55 and because I needed to be back to wake up L. by 6:30, I didn't get as far as I would have liked (apparently, I'm supposed to be able to do 2.8 miles in 28 minutes by now, but I have to get a warm-up walk in and also I'm apparently tortoise slow -- will work on upping my pace once I can complete the 5K).
I also had the uncomfortable experience of running in the dark. I live in a mostly safe/low-crime neighborhood. There is the rare police presence for domestic disturbances, and, well, we've had about 5 bikes stolen in the last few years (but this is due to a group of certain high schoolers that we've figured out). But other than that, I usually feel pretty confident walking/running around here. Still, I swear, I think I ran much faster this morning partly out of fear. (God, I hate being a woman sometimes and having had the "always carry mace/be ready to fight off an attacker/don't walk/run alone at dark/etc" drilled into me at a young age). I'm not sure what to do about this. I much prefer running in the mornings as I'm more refreshed then, and it's cooler, and I get to watch the sun rise, so this is what I hope to do on Thursday. But there's also a part of me that is wary of following my regular route on a regular basis in the mornings, and there's some part of me that wonders if I should carry mace or if I am being particularly daft one way or the other if I don't. (Some part of me doesn't *want* to carry mace, because I shouldn't have to, and it's a completely unjust system in which men are never taught to do these things. But I have yet to polish any elite martial art skills or even basic self-defense. And sometimes I think, "who's going to mess with a pudgy middle-aged woman who's huffing and puffing away like a steam engine and covered in sweat?"
Anyway, these things have been bothering me on the last few runs. I need to figure out how to revise my running schedule around the school schedule and work. I also need to figure out something better to eat before a run in the early mornings. I've noticed that when I hit about 2.5 miles, I'm feeling light-headed/nauseated, which has happened to me in the past when I work out hard on too little food. Usually I'm able to push through it, but if I could avoid it, that would be much preferred.
Also, my knee needs to quit giving me grief. I will ice it and love it and hug it and call it George today, but then it needs to get its act together.
ETA: Ook, now I am contemplating registering for this, which looks epic. And I think would give me some renewed motivation over the next few weeks.
I've been running in the evenings in the past week because the boys have started school and it was beyond difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6:00 a.m., let alone get other people ready to go. The problem with this is that the evenings are far more humid, sticky, and hot, even if I wait until after 6 pm. On Sunday, I ran in the evening a few hours after having a big lunch at a family reunion, and so I was already feeling rather heavy/slow. It was so dreadfully hot and humid that day that I gave up at around 2.0 miles. I could have gone further, but it felt like torture. When I came home, my left knee had that lovely grinding sound, so I had to ice it up and take ibuprofen, but was rather sore there for the next day.
This morning I got up at about 5:35 a.m. (I usually have to get up at this time to make sure Oldest is awake and getting in the shower for school). Instead of going back to bed, as I would like to do, I got dressed and made a little coffee, ate a banana and a spoonful of peanut butter (yes, I know), and then went for a run. This was far cooler and therefore I definitely did not wear down so quickly, but because I didn't leave the house until 5:55 and because I needed to be back to wake up L. by 6:30, I didn't get as far as I would have liked (apparently, I'm supposed to be able to do 2.8 miles in 28 minutes by now, but I have to get a warm-up walk in and also I'm apparently tortoise slow -- will work on upping my pace once I can complete the 5K).
I also had the uncomfortable experience of running in the dark. I live in a mostly safe/low-crime neighborhood. There is the rare police presence for domestic disturbances, and, well, we've had about 5 bikes stolen in the last few years (but this is due to a group of certain high schoolers that we've figured out). But other than that, I usually feel pretty confident walking/running around here. Still, I swear, I think I ran much faster this morning partly out of fear. (God, I hate being a woman sometimes and having had the "always carry mace/be ready to fight off an attacker/don't walk/run alone at dark/etc" drilled into me at a young age). I'm not sure what to do about this. I much prefer running in the mornings as I'm more refreshed then, and it's cooler, and I get to watch the sun rise, so this is what I hope to do on Thursday. But there's also a part of me that is wary of following my regular route on a regular basis in the mornings, and there's some part of me that wonders if I should carry mace or if I am being particularly daft one way or the other if I don't. (Some part of me doesn't *want* to carry mace, because I shouldn't have to, and it's a completely unjust system in which men are never taught to do these things. But I have yet to polish any elite martial art skills or even basic self-defense. And sometimes I think, "who's going to mess with a pudgy middle-aged woman who's huffing and puffing away like a steam engine and covered in sweat?"
Anyway, these things have been bothering me on the last few runs. I need to figure out how to revise my running schedule around the school schedule and work. I also need to figure out something better to eat before a run in the early mornings. I've noticed that when I hit about 2.5 miles, I'm feeling light-headed/nauseated, which has happened to me in the past when I work out hard on too little food. Usually I'm able to push through it, but if I could avoid it, that would be much preferred.
Also, my knee needs to quit giving me grief. I will ice it and love it and hug it and call it George today, but then it needs to get its act together.
ETA: Ook, now I am contemplating registering for this, which looks epic. And I think would give me some renewed motivation over the next few weeks.
