Another week gone by

I managed to get outside to jog 5 miles last Sunday. It felt really good to get that jog in after having a bad jog on Saturday. On Tuesday it was cold and rainy so I went to the rec center and jogged 4 miles around the track. It was different running without worrying about going up and down hills but not necessarily easier. I had read that jogging long distances on flat surfaces can be difficult because it requires the same muscle movements through out, rather than jogging on various surfaces which uses different muscles and gives some muscles a break. On Thursday my mom came up to visit me during lunch which is usually when I jog and I had a paper to write, so I had to make a decision to make later that night and I decided that watching The Office was more important than getting my jog in. However, on Friday I did jog another four miles outside which was a nice way to end the school week. Today I jogged 6 miles (3 times around the section.) I'm glad I could go that far and hope to go 6.5 next Saturday. Until next time, Happy jogging.

This past week!

I managed to get 4 runs in this past week. On Sunday I ran 2 miles, I meant to go 4, but my legs were really sore after running the day before. On Tuesday I ran 4 miles and felt really good. I also bought a new ipod and this was the first time I got to use it. I worked really well, much easier to run with than the old mp3 player. On Thursday I also ran 4 miles and felt really good as well. On Saturday I meant to run 4 - 5 miles, but the cold weather got to me, and I decided to only run 2 miles. Hopefully when I run today, I'll be able to get my 5 miles in. Gotta keep working towards 26.2!

This past week.

It's been 1 week since I ran the 5k and I'm still alive and have continued to exercise frequently. I ran 3 days this week. First on Tuesday when I ran 2.7 miles, and felt pretty good. I ran 3.1 (a 5k) on Thursday in about 27 or 28 minutes, which I felt pretty good about, I had to deal with a hill and some wind neither of which I encountered in the 5k. I also didn't get that pain in my sides that I felt during the competitive 5k last week so I was happy with that. Today, I ran about 4 miles, which included tackling a hill towards the end of the run. I didn't time myself for that, but felt pretty good considering I walked back to my apartment and got my stretching done in an hour. I hope to be ready for a 10k by the middle of June, and to run a half marathon in Des Moines in November.

5k run is done

I completed the first of my minor goals this morning when I crossed the finish line. My two main goals were a.) finish in under 30 minutes and b.) not stop to walk during any part of the race. I felt good at the start, but about a half mile in my shoelace became untied. I must have looked like an idiot getting paced by all the people who I had paced literally seconds earlier. However, I was able to regroup quickly and continued on. At mile one I felt alright, but anxious for the race to get over. At mile a mile and a quarter or a third (there weren't any markers) we had to run around a loop and head in the opposite direction. This is great I thought, we're about half way done, obviously I was wrong as when we got to a turn in the road we had to run the same path we had came from. As I ran down that path I started feeling a little pain in my right side, however I managed to put on a brave face when I saw my instructor Emily making the turn to head back in the direction we came from. I made that turn and felt my pace slow down. The pain in my right side was getting more intense. I was passed by my friend Anne Rohde who asked me how I was doing. I joking asked her why it was a fun run. Although our talk was brief, it was good to chat a little. However, she soon left me to eat her dust and I was back at it. Shortly after that I felt an added pain in my left side. I had never had that, I felt like I was ready to throw in the towel and either start walking or collapse and have the ambulance come out with the paddles. I then told myself that I had come to far to give up and that quit was a word that I never used. When I hit approximately the 2.8 mile mark I saw a photographer take my picture. I can't imagine I looked any better than grim death. I really felt like I was struggling. However, before I knew it I ran passed the 3 mile marker and told myself that I was really going to make it. As I continued to jog on at my slow pace, I saw a sign that said turn and sprint. When I made the turn I saw the finish line and kicked it into an all out sprint which must have been the slowest sprint ever recorded (I don't run to fast on a good day none the less after I had already ran 3 miles) however I crossed the finish line and didn't collapse. The pain in my sides went away shortly afterwords and I handed in my stub from my number that I wore on my chest before grabbing a bottle of water and then heading off to meet my parents who were nice enough to come for the race. I achieved my goals, I finished the race in 185th place (out of 738 people) and my time was 26 minutes and 27.2 seconds. I averaged 8 minute and 32 second miles which is better than I had averaged in my workouts so the improvement was definately there. This is not the end of my blog. I plan to keep this going until I achieve my goal of running a full marathon. However, I'm a long ways away from that journey, next up is a 10k. Wish me luck and thanks for reading. -Brian

Long overdue

Sorry for being so late with this, I have been extremely busy preparing for tests and lesson plans so I've gotten pretty far behind. Here's a brief recap of the last two weeks. Tuesday 3/22 I ran 3 miles on the track at the rec center. It was kind of boring running in circles, but at least the view changed which was different than when I run/walk at the basement of the Catholic Church. My mile times were as follows: mile 1: 8 min. 20 sec. mile 2 8 min. 55 sec mile 3 26 min. 30 seconds. Hopefully the 5k will be finished in under 30 minutes if I keep this pace. Thursday 3/24 I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and don't remember the time. I forgot my jogging shoes and compression shorts so I was in significant pain through out the workout. It was a painful reminder that I need to be prepared for race day. Saturday 3/26 I ran outside for about 2 miles, I got up early in the morning so I could get used to the cold, boy was it cold Tuesday 3/29 I ran a mile on the treadmill before getting sick of it and running 2 miles outside. Should be ready for Saturday. Thursday 3/31 prepared for any hills I may encounter by running up and down flights of stairs. I pushed myself as hard as I could but wasn't satisfied with my times. After that we ran a small triangle outside the rec before returning indoors to do an ab workout. Tomorrow is race day. Get excited Brian!!!!