Toe-Shoes Tina: Running Is Getting Enjoyable, But It Is Still NotKickboxing

Distance:  5 miles
Pace:  8:11 (holy s%#&!)
Heart Rate:  159 (though my summary shows my heart rate at 227 for a few minutes at the beginning of my run, so I question this “average”)
Wine Consumption:  3 glasses of Malbec

I do not normally run on Thursdays.  Thursday is kickboxing with a trainer who seems to take pleasure in inflicting pain.  I love those classes.  And today he promised me that we would do the noodle drill.  The noodle drill is where your partner holds a pool noodle horizontally about 1.5 feet off the floor.  You stand to one side of the noodle, jump sideways over it and roll back under it.  Then repeat over and over for a minute.  It is both terrible and awesome.  I love the noodle drill.  Then Wednesday morning, I realized I had an early meeting on Thursday that prevented me from attending kickboxing.  FRICK!  Running it is.

You may have noticed from my intro that I drank three glass of wine . . . on a weekday!  Though I have been abstaining during the week, I make exceptions for special events.  On Wednesday I had two special events.  So there.  First, I went to an early going away dinner for my friend D who is about to leave on an extended international voyage.  I ate a salad . . . and pizza . . . and fries . . . and two glasses of delicious malbec.  Health food, y’all!  Then I stopped by a happy hour for my good friend, who I will reluctantly call Big Daddy because that’s what he calls himself even though I find it a little creepy (see, that’s how good of friends we are, I would not do that for a mere acquaintance).  Slo Jo was there because she is also good friends with BD, in fact, she is the one who introduced me to him.  As I was at the bar ordering my third (and final) malbec of the night, Slo Jo sidled up and ordered water.  She informed me that she needed to switch to water so she was fresh and hydrated to run hills the next morning.  I followed her lead and limited myself to a glass.  We both left by 8:30, which is sort of incredible.  What has happened to us, Slo Jo?

 

(Slo Jo and I must be home by 9:00 before our carriage turns into a pumpkin!)

I set my alarm for 5:00 am so I could get a run in early enough to get to my meeting.  I woke up at 4:45, no alarm necessary.  I drank a small latte and part of my fruit and veggie smoothie (my breakfast every day).  After drinking about half my smoothie, my stomach felt uncomfortably full.  Surprisingly, pizza and fries do not digest as quickly as my normal healthy dinners. I decided not to fill my stomach any more before running.

(One advantage to running before the sun comes up is this is my view as I finish my run.  Purty.)  

I figured I’d run  5 miles at an 8:30-9:00 pace.  I tried this exact thing two months ago and failed miserably.  I only made it 4.5 and struggled mightily to keep my pace below 9:00.  Today was 20 degrees cooler, which made a huge difference! 

Mile 1:  I feel like I’m at a good pace.  I’m breathing a little hard, but not gasping for air.  Then, MapMyRun tells me “Distance:  1 Mile, Pace 8 minutes, 17 seconds.”  So much for starting out easy.  I tell myself to slow down before I burn out.  Also, I was making a concerted effort to keep the smoothie in my stomach.  Note:  do not eat pizza and fries the night before a training run.

Mile 2:  “Slow down,  Tina”  “Slow down, Tina”  “Slow down, Tina.”  I’m pretty sure this is not what Runners World had in mind when it told me to repeat an inspiring mantra during my runs.  Nonetheless, I’m feeling good.  Breathing is still under control.  Heart feels good.  Legs feel good.  Then “Distance:  2 miles, Split Pace 8 minutes, 24 seconds.”  Dammit!  Still too fast.

Mile 3:  I try to keep slow it down for a half mile.  Then I reach my 2.5 mile turnaround point and am like “eff it, I’m halfway done, might as well go.”  Pace:  8:11. 

Mile 4:  I find myself doing math in my head, trying to figure out what my 5K time would be on this run (25:45).  Hey, this is a really good way to zone out.  Math.  Who knew?  I gotta find more numbers to crunch.    Then, I realize that “Hey Ya” is playing and I am involuntarily bobbing my head to the music.  Hmmm . . . am I having fun?  While running?  Is this a runner’s high?  Doesn’t hold a candle to a wine buzz, but I’ll take it.  Pace:  8:07.

Mile 5:  No matter how far I run, the last mile is always the hardest.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe it is because I am so close to being done.  Maybe I am dreading the final push to finish strong.  Maybe my runners high wore off.  This mile sucked.  But I ran it fast to get it over with.  Pace:  7:48.

(Negative splits!  Also, I burned 677 calories of pizza and fries.)