Saturday, March 13, 2010

Run for Babies 5K

This was a challenging race! The winds were averaging close to 20 mph throughout the event. The course was pretty decent (except for the section by the fuel depot - strong chemical odor) but the winds made it wicked hard! I was very surprised to learn I placed 3rd in my age group. I won a ribbon -- more bling! I felt so beat up when I crossed the finish line. Waiting for our times to be announced was tough -- thank goodness my young friend, Stephen (6ft tall and 19) graciously stood in front of me as a windbreak. I am so glad to finish this race... now I am sufficiently motivated to keep training for the next race in April.

This race was so hard I could not maintain the running pace -- I ended up walking a lot. Tomorrow I will not run, but Monday I get back in the groove towards maintaining the 30 minute continuous run. The Couch to 5k program really works, and it is possible to back up in the program if there are any setbacks. My sprained ankle was exactly one month ago. I restarted the C25k at week 4 two weeks ago getting ready for today's race. My ankle did not give me any trouble but my endurance is waaaaay off. I know as I keep going with the training I will recover my strength.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Getting Back in the Groove

Today I am running for the first time since my ankle sprain two weeks ago... I cannot believe how antsy I have been lately. I have been almost pacing wanting to get back to it... I had to stop myself twice from lacing up too soon. I will take it easy today with walk breaks just to give the ankle time to accept it. I expect I will have to stay easy this week before stepping it up next week. I have signed up for a 5k the first Saturday of April to give myself a goal.

The past few months I have had difficulty staying motivated - so I have taken up the journal action and goal-setting. My short-term goal is to pass the 1.5 mile fitness test. Mid-range goal is to improve my 5k time... my next goal is to complete the 10k distance this fall. The long range goal for next year is the half-marathon of 13.1 miles! That may take a fair amount of butt-kicking to reach.

Update:
The run wasn't horrible... I have my work cut out for me to get back into shape. My pace was just a little faster than when I first started the couch-to-5k last fall. I am trying to be careful. The ankle feels fine. That's good news. The hard part is to not get anxious and just work back to a comfortable 30 minute run without walk breaks... patience, patience, patience.