I Just Ran 5k

The race is two weeks away, and I had yet to run the distance on pavement. On a treadmill, yes. That was easy. But in wind and up the hilly hills and on asphalt and concrete, no. And I was scared that I couldn't do it. My last attempts ended short of the mark, and I was in pain. Yesterday, I even tried to talk myself out of trying it. My stomach was not well, and I was tired. But I got home, dressed up, stretched a bit, and walked out the door. Forty-five minutes later, I was finished.

It hurt from the get-go. My lungs needed to warm up for the race pace, and that took about a mile. I had to shorten my gait and slow my breathing to tackle the uphill slope that runs virtually the entire length of the two-mile stretch I plotted. I modeled my run after the boot-camp jog and shifted my weight from toes to ankles on steep climbs. I talked to myself the whole way too, debating and bargaining and chastising. It wasn't an easy run. I did have to stop for road traffic a few times but for no more than 20 seconds. I got to my two-mile landmark, tied my shoe, turned around, and went back. The rib pain came about three-fourths of the way through, but I used short breaths and clenching to make it fade. When I reached the 5k distance, I walked the rest of the way back home and felt great. Well, proud and tired and a bis surprised, but releived that I finally made it. I ran 5k. On pavement.

I'll not run again until the weekend, and I'll try that distance three more times before the race. Until then I'll work with weights and stretching.

The NFL
Her Teams
New England (4-1), NY Jets (2-3), Oakland (0-4)
Philly (4-1), Detroit (0-5)

My Teams
Miami (1-4), Pittsburgh (1-3)
Philly (4-1), Carolina (3-2)

Moving Picture of the Day
A trailer for the Tarantino/Rodriquez trash film, Grindhouse.

In the News
When we can confirm that North Korea detonated a nuke, then we should worry about what to do about it. So far, we're guessing and panicking. And spinning. The administration and the talking heads are blaming a president who hasn't been in office for six years. They don't like to mention the tidbit that Rumsfeld was on the board of a company that sold that country reactors.