Until today running has sucked this week. Pretty much everything has sucked this week. The economy has resulted in some of my coworkers losing their jobs or corporately speaking "their positions were eliminated"; whatever. My (and your) 401k took a huge dive. On the home front I am finding it increasingly more difficult to deal with the 18 year old who seems to have no motivation or direction. Even the shortest contact with him ends with me being pissed off. Life!
I didn't run on Monday, although I can't remember exactly why. The initial plan was to run Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday I had class - Intro to Marketing, so no running. Wednesday I'm blaming on the kid, but in reality it was my reaction to the kid that kept me from running.
Today I finally got out there and it felt G-O-O-D! I headed over to the San Gabriel River Trail right after work. It was just like old times. Brian, Celeste, Terry and I used to have a standing 5 miler every Thursday right after work. Today it was just me but the trail was familiar.
I got started right behind another guy. I fell in behind him as he slowly crept further and further ahead of me. I took note of the time at a mile marker and realized my chasing had me running nearly 8:00 pace. Just before the 2 mile mark my rabbit turned back. I ended up doing that mile in 8:20. It has been a long time since I'd done that. My heart and lungs felt nearly ready to burst out of my chest. At that point I took a 30 second walk break to catch my breath and then kept on going without my rabbit to spur me on.
I tried to keep the pace under control. I had no need to run fast. I've found though that once I've started a pace I have a hard time changing it up. The next mile came in at 8:40 which included the 30 second walk break. The next mile was 8:06. I was huffing and sucking in as much air as I could but I couldn't slow down. It was during mile 4 that I realized that I was running the whole time. For some reason I didn't even think to take walk breaks. I've been using 5:1 on shorter runs pretty routinely lately. I guess I was enjoying the trail and the little burst of speed too much. I took another 30 second walk break at mile 4.5 and tried really hard to take easy into the finish.
My final time was 42:03 for an 8:25 pace overall. Like I said it felt really GOOD. I'm not sure where the little burst of speed came from but it was fun while it lasted and for 42:03 life didn't suck quite so badly.
10 comments:
My kids rattle my cage too. It is sure frustrating most days isn't it. Running is a great outlet for burning off all that bother...maybe that accounts for the burst of speed eh? Either way, good to push it a bit now and then. Don't be surprised at your speed the next time. Ha!
Have a great weekend.
I think my 17 year old had a long talk with his Mom. We seem to be less pissed at each other these days!! LOL...
Nice pace on the run! Since you didn't mention your shin, I take it, it went very well. That's ORESOME :-)_
That's an awesome, awesome time Darrell! Great job.
As far as the 18-yr old...try to exercise patience. Sometimes, kids know at 5 what they want to do with the rest of their life, for others it can take til 25 or later.
I should know...I was the classic underachiever for most of my life!
Sounds like a great run, Darrell. Running is such wonderful therapy, wouldn't you say? It is so nice to be able to escape from life and the news for just a little while. I know I know I always return with a better perspective.
All the best, and enjoy your weekend!
Nothing like a good run..... : )
Life can be stressful - thank goodness for running!
Great pace, too! I can only go that fast on a downhill.
yay for feeling GOOD!
Way to bust it out on your run! Nice and speedy. Glad you had a run that felt good. :)
By the way - thanks for the info. on setting up the blog lines (or whatever it's called.) I have yet to set it up, but I've saved your email for when I do.
Oh - to answer your question about my job. . . . back to job #1. All is well and I'm glad I decided not to take the new job. Too many concerns and potential for quick burnout. Sometimes we have to take the long route to figure out what we really should be doing.
Ah, Darrell...life with those almost adults can be challenging! I think Dads and sons have a hard time, and Moms and daughters. I know it was easier for me to deal with the boys than Eric, but it's all good now. Have patience - this too shall pass.
Good deal on feeling like your old self!
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