Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Running, Shoes and Scrambling


I finally made it to the running store yesterday and got new shoes. Aren't they lovely? I just love the pink stripe and the darker grey of it. The multicolored swirlys on the inside are cool too. I just love a new pair of shoes, how clean and comfortable and supportive they are. *sigh* And they smell good too.

I find it amazing that I already needed new shoes. I have a workout journal that I keep online and it tracks my mileage for my shoes so that I know when I've hit the 500 mile mark, which is when I replace them. I got the notice in December that I had hit that mark, isn't that crazy? That means I put 500 miles on my old shoes in only about ten months. That's a lot of running.


This year I could possibly rack up the miles even quicker. I'm contemplating training for and doing the full marathon in July instead of the half. There are several reasons I've not just bit the bullet and committed to it, like the fact that I'm not sure I want to spend that much time running to train and that I don't want to run by myself for four hours on race day and that running for four hours seems crazy in and of itself. But I'm looking to challenge myself this year and this might be just what I need, so I'm just not sure, yet. I'll decide soon.

I did a lil' relay race on Sunday with most of my running buddies. It was a small, low-key fundraiser for one of high school's cross country team but it was fun. We paired up and each ran 2 miles, for a total of 4 miles. I ran the first leg--I didn't want to be standing around waiting--and my partner D ran the second half. I went into it thinking that since it was only 2 miles I could bust it and I made a goal to stay with C (who is usually faster than I and has been running far longer) the whole time. It's funny because afterwards she said that her goal had been to stay with me, lol. We stayed with each other and pushed hard. I couldn't carry on a conversation like we normally do and I felt like my legs and lungs were on fire, but I kept telling myself it was only 2 miles that I could do anything for 2 miles. So when we made the final turn and I saw the finish line, I had to tell C to get out her stick to hand off, I was so relieved. Then we looked at the clock on our way across the line and were astonished to see it read 16:40 or something like that. What? Seriously? We ran right around 8 minute miles? That is crazy fast for me. Crazy. No wonder I felt like I was dying. My typical pace is anywhere from 10 to 12 minute miles, tens on a good day. I was blown away by the fact that I actually did that and that I could do it.

I was talking to another runner friend J, about the race and the fastness of it, how it was so different than my normal slow and far runs but that it felt really good. Well, she recommended this article about tempo running and how its suppose to really help burn fat and improve your running. I read it and totally see the benefit of doing some tempo running. That is something I will definitely incorporate in my running from here on out. It makes me wonder what kind of time I could get on a 5k this year, its inspiring!


1 comment:

  1. Way to go with the running. I have never been much of a runner aside from sprints in high school. I played soccer which incorporated running to score a goal, etc. ;) I just can RUN for the sake of running. :)

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