20 Days of Running: Day One

Today was crazy busy! I went to work (to the job that I quit three weeks ago...but then they offered me more money to train my replacement, I couldn't refuse...oh and they bought me lunch, yum!), got off work 40 minutes after I was suppose to, rushed home to try and get the car home by 2:00pm (our car died a few weeks ago so my Mom has graciously been juggling her car around and helping me get to school and work), which of course didn't happen (traffic at 1:45pm? Where are all you people going at this time?). Thankfully it worked out.

I was also rushing home to try and fit in a run before my evening classes. Thankfully I double checked my schedule and discovered that I only have one class on Tuesday evenings, not two. That made my day! However, by the time I got home this evening, it was already dark out and Mark was working (he also hurt his foot), which meant no running outside for me. It settled for the neighborhood clubhouse and ran on the treadmill. Every time I run on a treadmill I am reminded of how much I HATE running on treadmills. Its boring, unnecessarily extra work and I always end up getting some sort of muscle cramp. The first half of my run was fairly decent, I was running about 8 minute miles. Suddenly a muscle in my stomach seized and I had to slow it down even more (ugh). I ended up running a 3.15 miles in 26 minutes, running the last .15 of a mile at a sprint (finish strong baby!).

Still working on the water consumption...

Good news: 01/11/11 - 3.15 miles ran
Bad news: 26 minutes? Yuck! Okay, that's not actually the bad news. The bad news is that we have a cold front moving through (cold for Florida). It is suppose to drop down to 31 degrees tomorrow night! Yikes!

I am trying to decide what 5k to run next. I was going to run a 5k in Daytona at the end of the month, but our currently car situation makes that slightly unrealistic. However, there is a 5k in town on the 22nd and another on the 5th of next month...I just need to make a decision. Any thoughts?

Running Tip #1 - Start out slow, even if you can walk as fast as you run, don't give up, just keep pushing to your goal. Mentally distract yourself by listening to music or running with a friend. Try to chat if you can. If running alone, focus on your grocery list, a book your are reading, a movie, a blog you are writing, anything that will keep your mind off actually running. Eventually, you will reach your goal and begin to enjoy feeling your feet hit the pavement (or dirt), the mental relaxation and the "runner's high" most runners experience.

Happy running :)