Saturday morning was perfect. The weather was phenomenal, I felt great, and I was determined to run all the way around White Rock. Steve and I had breakfast, got dressed, and headed out the door (sans puppy-dog) to get our run on. I wore my Nike jacket to begin with since it was pretty cool outside, so it was great to see what it felt like to run with it on. I was hoping to get started around 7:30, but no sooner had we gotten down to the first gate, when Steve decided he wasn't ready yet and we had to go back up to the apartment. Ugh. I know it wasn't a big deal, but when I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. You know what I mean? We finally headed back out a little after 7:45. And so began our trip. The Dallas Cross Country Club was having a 5k and a 15k race, so we had to avoid all the people around the quarter mile mark, but other than that it was a great day to run. It took me about a mile and a half to finally get in the swing of things. And about that long to warm up enough to be comfortable with taking off my jacket. I stopped only 2 times. Once about 3 miles in to grab a sip of water at a water fountain and the second time to get another sip of water about 6 miles in to get some water and walk for about 15 seconds. I'm not exactly sure how long and far I ran because my Nike iPod adapter is not working correctly and then my iPod died at the very end. But I'm thinking we ran the course in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
I'm really proud of us. I honestly didn't feel like I struggled at all to continue running. My breathing was calm and my legs felt great up until about a mile left to go. At that last mile I knew if I stopped running, I wouldn't be able to start again. But to know that I can run 9 miles is so encouraging. I feel so confident that in 3 weeks I'll be able to run the half marathon.
Saturday, Steve even took me to Run On! in Richardson to get my first running belt!! I feel like a real runner!! I'm going to try it out some time this week, when we go for a run to see how it feels, but it's pretty cool :)
That's what I got. It holds 4 8 oz. bottles of water and has a tiny pouch for keys, food, etc. We also bought some Clif bar shots. I'll definitely need those about half way into my runs. They're 100 calories and they're equivalent to a cup of coffee. And hey, when has caffeine ever done me wrong? :)
I guess my goal for this week is to just work out more often. Tonight I want to do 30 minutes of cardio and some arm/chest weights. Tuesday, I'm hoping to run 4-5 miles at a faster pace. Wednesday is another cross training day. 30 minutes on the eliptical back and legs for weights. Thursday, I'd like to run a 5k at about a 9 minute mile pace. We'll see how that goes. Friday is either my day off or just a weights and cardio (probably bike). Saturday of course is my long run. Since I went over 9 miles Saturday, I'm hoping to run 10.5-11 miles.
You know what would be really nice? If I could stop eating a bunch of crap and start really losing some weight. I need to really start watching what I eat.
1 comment:
You did it! :-) You set a goal, and you did it. That's incredible Mariah. And the running belt - how awesome that you'll have that for your upcoming races! 13 + miles will be snap for you!
Post a Comment