Y5K #9

Well, another week of running has come and gone, and this one, I guess is slightly more significant because at the end of it, I ran an official 5K. Well I didn't RUN the whole 5 kilometers, but I ran a lot of it and... well, I'll just let you read about it.

• Despite some overcast and windy weather, I managed to get out and run Monday after work.  Since I'd taken nearly a week off (ok, 5 days), I chose to just go with another 2 minutes walking/3 minutes jogging split and I managed to crank out 3.1 miles in 37.5 minutes. Just out of curiosity, I just looked at some of my old times/distances and had to chuckle because back in week #4 I did 2.9 miles in 28 minutes, doing 3 minutes of walking for every 2 of jogging. So while I'm glad that I've managed to stick with this running thing so long, I guess I shouldn't get too cocky about the progress I'm making. :)

• Wednesday's run was noteworthy for a few reasons. For starters, I went 3.3 miles in about 40 minutes.  So it was my first time actually crossing the 5K limit.  I was doing a 1.5 minutes walking/3.5 minutes jogging split, and man, the last 2 jogging legs were killer. The last one especially was a mental toughness moment. As I was walking that 1.5 minutes between legs 4 and 5, I was wondering if this would be my first time not sticking to the training schedule. But somehow I managed to put the thought of time out of my mind and just focus on a spot out in the distance and keep my legs moving. Even when it meant running a red light at Vine street when the light was against me and I thought there was no way I'd be able to keep going if I had to jog in place while I waited for the light.  Anyway, hopefully my body can make progress and next time won't be quite so tough.  I guess at this point, next time is probably the 5K I'm doing Saturday morning, so I guess we'll see how that goes. It'll be my first time running a specific distance rather than just a fixed number of minutes. I wonder if that will make it easier or harder. Hmm...

• Saturday was kind of a big day, at least within the scope of these Y5K posts. :)  I drove over to Wheeler Farm (it's about a 3 minute drive. Mostly I drove so I could put stuff in my car, but also in case I was exhausted afterward and was unable to walk home) for the Utah for Congo Women 5K. Julie, who is running the Wasatch Back Ragnar next weekend came with me and kept me company on the run.  Meili was the one who had invited me to the race, and while she was too busy selling raffle tickets to run, her daughter, Syd, wanted to give the big kids race a shot, so she ran with us for almost all of the first loop around the farm.  When she was tired we walked, which was good rest for us as well. I didn't really look at my watch or try to stick to any kind of training pace. Just jogged when I could and when I got tired told myself I could go a bit further. And then usually Julie would suggest we walk about the time I was ready to walk as well.  My final time was surprisingly good (at least surprisingly good to me): 30 minutes and 03 seconds. Of that 30 minutes I would guess that we probably walked about 7. Give or take.  Anyway, I spent most of the rest of the day lounging around and took a little bit of time to put some ice on my knees and ankles, and hopefully I don't end up suffering too much. At the time of this writing (early Saturday evening), I'm feeling pretty good.

That's me. #171. It's Who I Am.

I had my number pinned on the back of my shirt (in the front was going to annoy me), so they didn't get my time. I took them Julie's time card and asked if they could fill one out for me. Her time was 30:02 and she finished a hair ahead of me, so she adjusted it to 30:03.

• Sunday, in the hopes of keeping my muscles loose after Saturday's run, I convinced Julie to join me for a stroll. We went for a walk along the Jordan River Parkway, and may have overdone it just a tad, as we ended walking just about 3.2 miles, if my calculations are correct. 

Overall, a pretty full week of walking and running. The next race on my training radar is the Ray Barrus Memorial 5K that takes place in Grantsville before the 4th of July parade. Natalie and George are planning on running it, and maybe even my mom, so that should be fun. Hopefully if I stick to my training schedule for the next few weeks I can run even more of this one (maybe even the whole thing?). Guess we'll see. Hopefully I can at least get out and run tonight after work so I can keep in the habit even with one race under my belt.