Craziness & Running With My Cousin

So it's been one hell of a week!  My race was last Saturday and I haven't run since until today.  My plan was to take Sunday & Monday off and run on Tuesday.  But everything went nuts on Tuesday when the girl got sick.  Not just sick, I mean REALLY sick.  Like 911, ambulances, overnight at the hospital sick with pneumonia sick.  You can read about part of the ordeal here. She is mostly fine now, but we're taking it easy.  It just didn't really leave any kind of time open for me to get any running in.  And then when I could, I was sick myself & didn't want to push myself into a coughing fit. 

So it's been a week since my last run.  But my cousin (KR) is spending an extended weekend with me, and lucky for me she is a runner!  I was nervous heading out yesterday morning; It had been a week since I did any kind of exercise, I was still battling the remnants of a cold, and we were running outside which I still don't do that often.  And of course, since I was running with someone else I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up, that I would run out of breath and fall down and be left on the street by myself, or that I would just be an embarrassment to myself and the entire sport of running. Silly, I know, but this is what goes through my head every time I do something different.

Once we took off, I knew we would be fine.  KR was letting me set the pace, and I was surprised to see that I was faster than her!  I wasn't racing or anything like that - it was just a fun morning run for the two of us.  I had just assumed that since she had been running for years that I wouldn't be able to keep up and was happy to see that I could hold my own :)

We didn't really set a course, we just took off from the house and guesstimated how far we went, looping through the neighborhood a few times.  We both guessed that it was just over 2 miles, and when I got home, I used Map My Run to see what we actually did and was happy to see that it was 2.76 miles!  I can't really use this app while running outside because I don't have an iPhone, so I have no idea how fast we were, but I felt good and I was fine with the distance.  It had been a week so I was happy to be moving at all!

So running outside is always a new experience for me.  Yesterday morning in particular I noticed a few things.

1.  I don't sweat nearly as much outside as I do in the basement.  Might have something to do with the 60 degree weather.  I'm sure if it were 90 out there it would be a different story.  But I think there is something to be said for moving through space and the wind that it creates.  I think even in warmer temps I may sweat less because I'm not staying in one place.  We'll have to test this out next summer!

2.  I could feel the breeze through my sneakers.  Not kidding.  This was a very interesting experience for me.  Again, I'm sure the cool air had something to do with it.  I wonder what that will be like in the cold of winter...will I have to wear warmer socks?

3.  Hamstrings are definitely used more outside.  Nothing to really elaborate on here, just something I'm noticing.

4.  I am more motivated to go further if I am outside.  Since I can see how far I've actually gone it makes me want to go even further.

5.  Running with someone else, whether in conversation or not also pushes me to go further.  It keeps me accountable for holding my own and my mind doesn't go to the "I want to quit" zone, no matter how bad I feel.

So this running outside thing I'm starting to like.  There is that control freak part of me that likes the treadmill because it is familiar and I can see exactly how far and how fast I've gone.  I wonder if one of the GPS watches would allow me the same feeling of control?

More running to come.  Not sure if I'll be able to get outside with KR again, but I feel a noticeable difference when I do run compared with when I don't.  And now that I'm aware of it I'm sure I will be more on top of it.

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