I kept running

What would you do the day after you ran your first organized 5K?

I ran 10K. It wasn't the brightest move. But a week later I believe I'm better off for it.

Since the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon in Vegas will be on a Sunday evening, some of the Team Challenge training runs are scheduled for Sunday evenings as well. Last week our run was scheduled for West Potomac Park - two laps around Haines Point. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate traffic tie-ups on in-bound I-66 on a late Sunday afternoon, so my 32 mile drive took me almost an hour. As I arrived at the meeting point, I saw the team about 50 yards ahead. They had just started the run. Instead of stretching, taking my time to warm up, and taking it easy after the previous day's run, I did a couple lunges, quad stretches, and windmills and took off after the pack.

In my defense, I had been stretching throughout the day because I was still a little stiff from the 5K. I probably didn't need a full stretch routine, but I certainly should not have tried to catch up with the lead pack. I had no illusions of being able to keep up with them, but since we were all going to run the same distance, I knew if I took frequent walking breaks like I had in previous training sessions I'd probably end up 15 or 30 minutes behind the others. I took off after them. After only about 100 yards of a faster-than-usual pace, I realized they were going to continue to pull away so I greeted a couple of the walkers I did catch up to and slowed down a bit.

Still, I wasn't going to take as many walking breaks, so I ran the first 15 minutes before taking a brief walking break. I really pushed myself and consequently ran through some pain -- my calves, my ankle, my thighs were yelling at me. I ran the first lap clockwise around Haines Point following the traffic flow. When I reached my car, I turned around and ran counterclockwise so that the traffic would be in front of me and so that I could run by everyone else on the team who was there that day before the running was done. As I started the second lap, I was thinking I should stop running and pay attention to the pain signals my body was giving me, but I pressed on. Eventually, my knee started yelling at me and I was trying to remember what the guest speaker had told us the previous week about avoiding injury. "What is that injury that begins with just a mild nagging knee pain? Crap!"

I kept running.

About a mile into the second lap I passed the lead pack (or we passed each other), waved, and smiled, and said a few words. My lungs were okay, but my body was hurting. It was time for my third walking break, the last one before I would push to the finish. When I started running again I was concentrating on trying to minimize the hurt to my body and remembered the advice from El Caballo Blanco, one of the main protagonists in Born to Run -- "light, easy, smooth." If I straightened out my back and concentrated on "light, easy, smooth" and tried to just sweep my feet across the earth, I could ease the pain a little and didn't feel the pounding of the asphalt, but I was too tired to keep that up for more than a few strides at a time. So I just kept practicing it as much as I could.

I normally like to finish strong, but I hadn't saved anything in the tank on this run. I was slowing down in the last 1/4 mile when I saw that Jen had come back around to meet me and guide me back to the start/finish. Cool. That's what a team is for, right?

My body hurt for three days. I took an ice pack to work Monday morning and strapped it to my leg all morning, moving it from one sore or aching place to another until it melted. I also skipped my Monday run to recuperate. I wish I had more time to write about my other three runs this past week. I'll just give the cliff notes.

On Wednesday I went back to the National Mall to run with Team Challenge. It was a drizzly day, so only two walkers and one other runner showed up. I ran 3.2 miles. Well, "ran" is an overstatement. It's hard to keep moving on the Mall because you have to cross busy streets so many times. None-the-less, I finished strong -- running the last 1/2 mile at my fastest pace. afterward the four of us went out for drinks.

Friday I ran an easy mile to keep my legs moving.

Saturday I mapped a 3 mile course in my neighborhood and ran two laps. I felt good. This course is a bit hilly. About 50 minutes into my 1:05 run and at the bottom of the last big hill I began to pick up the pace little by little, continuously until the end. I only took one walking break between two half hour running stints. I felt good afterwards.

Sunday, September 18th
run-walk pattern in minutes:
15-2-15-3
15-3-11:30-:30
total distance: 6.4 miles

Wednesday, September 21st
run-walk pattern in minutes:
6 - 0:30 - 4 - 0:30
6 - 2 - 5 - :30
4 - :30 - :30 - :30
5
total distance: 3.2 miles

Friday, September 23rd
running time in minutes: 10:00
total distance: 1 mile

Saturday, September 24th
run-walk pattern in minutes:
32:30-2:30-30:41
total distance: 6.2 miles