Monday, September 29, 2008

Cto5k Week 2, Day 1!

Wow, today was so much better! i had a rough weekend, with my side and back bothering me a lot on Saturday and Sunday (until after lunch). Once my side stopped acting up i felt back to normal and even played line tag with the youth at church, though i was always tagged out so quickly that i didn't even get my heart rate up. When i woke up my back was a bit tight so i wasn't quite sure what to expect for my run.

i chose to go with the Podrunner Intervals this week and it is sooo much better. The songs only stop when you're supposed to change paces, and only for a second or two, and the music helped me focus on my breathing. That's what i worked on today, breathing from the stomach, and quickly discovered that the 2:2 pattern works best for me. This helped me go a lot farther without tiring as quickly, i was surprised when the first interval ended because i wasn't feeling tired yet. For the 2-5 intervals i could tell when the end was coming because it became a lot harder for me to focus on and regulate my breathing. i didn't focus on my pace at all, just my breathing, and the run fell in with the beat. i think i was running a bit slower than last week but my body wasn't tight and feeling unnaturally stiff like before. At the end of the fifth interval my right calf got a slight cramp that still hasn't completely gone away even though i've stretched it out (maybe in the shower, which is next). My sixth and last interval was much more difficult, about halfway through i just ran out of energy and it was at a crawling shuffle that i finished. But i feel very good about my run today, for one thing i didn't see how i was going to be able to run for 90s after Saturday's experience, but i did it!

The temp was a beautiful 72 degrees with gusty "winds rom SE at 13 mph", nowhere near as bad as last time it was windy. i had to run into the wind my first interval, it was pretty calm the rest of the time, and at the end it completely stopped right when i wanted it the most. ): Oh well, i'm enjoying the fall for now. (:

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