Thursday, January 28, 2010

3 Miles

This is the day that I put on my calendar to run three miles in order to see how the injured groin is holding up. Now that I think about it, isn't that like running your car into a wall to see if the airbags are doing OK? Anyway, Alex slept in, so I finally got out of bed, got dressed in treadmill running clothes and slipped out the door to go have a go at it. As I walked down the stairs to the gym (which is called the "Deep End" cuz it use to be a pool), I couldn't hear anything, noting that I was alone. I jumped a little rope to get the blood pumping, plugged into the iPod and started the evil treadmill up. The whole plan was to take it easier than I have been by doing what is called run/walk. Mr. Gallaway has made it famous and I'm sure saved many lives with this combination of running and walking. Off I go, running four minutes followed by one minute of walking. Now let me mention that I usually do six to seven miles per hour, which is a 8.5- to 10-minute mile. Knowing that Wonder Woman lives in my soul, I start out at six to see how it feels. After four minutes, I slow to 4.3 and do a race walk, keeping head and chest up, arms high and tight, and feet moving. After one minute, I climb back up in speed to 5.7, and I do this four-to-one ratio until I get to three miles—35.4 minutes later! How can that be? The last time I ran three miles, I did it in 29 minutes! Oh yeah, I'm injured. I stretched before I came home and put the icy slushy thing in a bag back on my leg and wondered if I would ever run again. After the hot shower, I'm feeling much better and believe I will be taking tomorrow off.

I have been told that I might have set this goal (half marathon) too high for myself, that I need to remember how old I am and that recovery could take longer because of my age. Maybe I should just run with no goals in mind, just run for the fun of running. That would make me a recreational runner, wouldn't it? WRONG! There is something that happens in you on your way to becoming a runner. It's hard to explain to people who don't run, but to just run for the fun of running isn't what it's about. It's about getting fit and feeling good in those smaller sized jeans! It's about being able to do something that no one really thought you could do while you were young and fit, let alone now that your older! It's about that feeling you get when you hear the gun go off to start a race and hearing your husband yell "Go, little wheels, go!" There is no going back to not being a runner! I don't know for sure when it happened, but I know there is no going back now! Recreational runner’—that's like drinking non-alcoholic beer. Why would you do that?

2 comments:

Lee Ryan said...

does this mean your I-pod is working again? Or did you get a different one?

Kimer said...

It is working and I did get a different one! You were right, they do dry out. However, I had already got the Nano dang it huh? So now the husband has the shuffle.