Now That's More Like It!

Got a chance to head outside for a run today in this beautiful weather!  Since it's January and supposed to be absolutely freezing, I completely overdressed and was drenched with sweat not even half a mile in.  Live & learn.  I knew I was wearing too much the second I stepped foot outside but ignored my instinct to remove a layer for fear of delaying/skipping a run for the second time today. (Earlier I attempted a treadmill run but when I reached the basement I got a whiff of a foul smell that I thought was a dead mouse/bird/other critter type thing, but turned out to be a waste pipe leaking into my basement showering a storage cabinet with stinky water.  In an attempt to figure out where it was coming from and having to call a plumber, I had to miss a morning run).  So I didn't want another excuse preventing me from getting out there. 

My pretty pink running watch

In other unfortunate news, Amazon.com completely lied in the description of my running watch.  I thought what I asked for & received most thankfully for Christmas was a GPS watch.  As it turns out there is no GPS on it so it functions solely as a stopwatch and you can break it down in splits, but since it doesn't track how far you are running I have no idea when to hit the button.  Oh well.  Fun though - I do plan on using it during races this year so that I can get an accurate time, and it definitely comes in handy for my other exercises and it's much easier than carrying around my iPhone for those.  So it definitely is a useful tool and will serve its purpose until I can afford a GPS watch.

Anyway, I was nervous as I headed out this afternoon, not knowing how far I'd be able to go after last night's debacle.  My goal was to just hit 3 miles.  I wasn't going to aim for a specific speed just yet but I wanted to make it to 3 miles without stopping.  I knew the route I wanted to follow because I have run it before but I couldn't remember how far it was and I couldn't remember what I did in the end - if I went around another block or not.  (I checked MapMyRun and the last time I ran 2.66 miles and opted to turn back towards home instead of continuing for one more loop around the block).  This time, I opted to do the extra loop and logged 2.97 miles in 30:08.  (You can check out the specifics here.)  SOOOO annoyed about the missing 0.03 miles but I'll forgive myself, especially since we walked another half mile later in the evening. 

My pace was about average for me.  I probably could have run some parts faster than I did but there were other spots where I was really struggling.  I actually almost came to a stop for a second because some chunks had made their way to the back of my throat and I thought I was going to lose it on someone's lawn, but luckily they stayed down.  I know, gross.  But overall even though it was tougher than it should have been I did feel much better running today than I did yesterday, and I think it has to do with being outside.  While I don't like not knowing how fast I'm actually running as I'm running, I like that I can adjust my pace as I feel it instead of having to judge where I think I might feel OK.  Does this sentence make any sense?  When I run on a treadmill, I know exactly how fast I'm running.  But when I feel a little tired or like I want/need to slow down a little bit, I have to guess what speed would be more comfortable and adjust it manually whereas outside I can just slow to what actually does feel comfortable.  But then I don't know if I'm keeping myself at a steady pace or if I'm going as fast as I want to be, etc.  Ugh.  I guess outside & the treadmill both serve their purposes!  I'll probably end up doing my speedwork on the treadmill because of this and I'll aim to do the distance runs outside as much as possible.

As it turns out, I kept my pace fairly steady!  My splits were 10:00, 10:04 & 10:12.  Nowhere near my goals for the year but I'm just happy that I finished today.  I'll start working on speed once I'm comfortable in my 3 miles again.  Taking 3 minutes off of my mile isn't going to be easy so I'm really going to have to push myself to make this happen.

Sitting here typing this I'm feeling that twinge in my hip again.  I did do tons of stretching after my run & I did preemptively roll my hamstrings & my hip anticipating some effects of running on pavement.  Let's just hope that it remains a twinge & goes away quickly with some more stretching & rolling! 

My plan is to run again tomorrow since the timing works out well with wifey's schedule, but if the twinge is pain or too much, I might take a rest day and try to eke out a run on Monday.

So overall, not my best run but I'm getting back to where I was before the holidays and I don't think it's going to take too much more to be 100%.  Hopefully the real work can begin soon!