Terrible run this morning

Today, I officially finished my 5K your way training program. Never mind that I ran my first 5K (at the Bronx Zoo) 3 weeks ago and I actually ran most of it (with a few short walking breaks). I should have been able to finish the 5 week program before my Bronx Zoo 5K but life got in the way so I was only in week 3 by the time the 5K arrived. But I'm not one to quit AND I *really* wanted that SparkPeople trophy (yes, I'm extremely competitive by nature). So I've been using the last 3 weeks since my race to finish up the remaining 2 weeks I had left on the training program.


Ideally I'd like to run more often than I have but I just haven't been able to with my schedule lately. I'd like to go back to running 3X per week, especially since I've got another 5K on May 31st. And even though I now know that I can run 3.1 miles, I've been more or less using the run/walk intervals from the 5K training program. I find running continuously still to be rather hard and I think the biggest problem still is figuring out the pacing. For the Bronx Zoo 5K, I managed to pace myself really well by finding other runners going at a pace I felt comfortable with and syncing my pace with theirs. It's much harder when you're out by yourself. I run with music however so I'm wondering if I set up a dedicated playlist for just running that I might be able to do better with pacing. I'll have to experiment with that. So basically, I still have to figure this whole pacing thing out.


I don't usually go running in the morning but this afternoon we've got a party to go to (more on that later) and it's going to be hot today. The forecast is for a high of 80 and plenty of sun, which will just make it feel hotter. So I wanted to get out there before it got too hot. I realized there is one additional benefit to running at the Duck Pond. Since it's by water and the trees provide shade, it tends to be cooler than everywhere else. I also realized that if I do 3 longer loops around the Duck Pond, it's exactly 5K. So now I have a good way to measure my pacing.


Even though I got to the Duck Pond at 9:30 am, it was still hotter than I prefer for running. It made things hard. And I must also be allergic to something there that releases their pollen in the morning. Towards the end of the run, I had to stop and walk because I could barely breathe. The congestion was terrible and I had even taken allergy meds (OTC) before I went out. I think it's time to finally see my doctor regarding my allergies. I need better or different meds or something. I hate not being able to breathe when I run.


I've also been lucky so far in that I've never felt sick or anything during my runs. I usually eat a banana or an English muffin or a granola bar beforehand and I feel fine. But today, my husband had made coffee since he had gotten up early (again, more on that later) and I had half a cup along with my English muffin an hour before I went out. Of course I used half and half in my coffee. I think it must have been the half and half that made me want to puke when I was in my last loop-around. Thank goodness I had hardly anything in my stomach. Otherwise, I would have been sick in public.


So today was not my best run. I didn't feel great afterwards like I usually do and was just so thankful it was finally over. But hey, I finished it. I really wanted to quit after 1 loop around but I forced myself to keep going. And you know what, loop 2 became that much easier. And despite my desire to puke and/or the inability to breathe, I still managed to complete the 5K in 36 min. I still have a lot I've got to figure out when it comes to my body and running but things can only get better from here, right?



So the party we've got later is a birthday party for my mother-in-law's 60th birthday. She knows of the party but she doesn't know the extent of how big this is going to be or the fact that so many of her friends she hasn't seen in awhile will be there too. The biggest surprise however will be that my sister-in-law Amy will be there. My husband Mark travels a lot for work and has a ton of airline miles. Since Amy couldn't afford the ticket out here, Mark used his miles to buy her a ticket. That's why we were up early this morning, to pick up Amy at the airport. I'm really excited for today. I know my mother-in-law is going to be beyond thrilled to see Amy.