Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I Did It!

4.01 mi. in 52:28 min.
Time of day: 4:15 p.m.
Temp: 38°F, 34°F wind chill

I did it! I ran my first official 4 mile run! It was tough. I rate it a 9.8 or 9.9 on the effort scale. Why so high? I ran a slightly different route and didn't realize it started with a long incline. It is amazing to me that even small inclines in the road—inclines you don't even notice in a car—make a difference in effort and energy in a run.

The reason I changed my route was completely mental. On Monday I did an excellent job of psyching myself into believing that the 2 mile turnaround point on my standard route would be way too far for me. That there would be no way I could run the route and make it. So Tuesday morning I changed the route from my usual out-and-bank to a point-to-point run. My husband dropped me off at the starting point and I headed home. I didn't realize there was this long, steady, albeit not very steep, incline on the road. I expended a lot of energy covering that territory. But I didn't ever stop and walk. I ran the entire 4.01 miles. I am really proud of myself for sticking with it. Yeah for me!

I tried some more GU on this run. This time I "ate" Espresso Love at the beginning of my run. The flavor is o.k. I didn't notice any big energy rush from the GU. But maybe the fact that I had enough energy to run the entire distance is due to eating the extra nutrition. Not sure.

I'm getting more comfortable running with the water bottle. I was working so hard on this run that I didn't finish all the water until I was walking the short distance for my cool down.

I talked to Jeni, my personal trainer/coach, shortly after I finished. I was so happy I just had to share it with her. She gave me a lot of info to work on as race prep.
  • Start visualizing running in a crowd, people around me breathing loudly, passing me, me passing people. Listen for the sound of shoes hitting pavement, people talking in a crowd, a bullhorn counting down the time.
  • Think about if I'm going to run with an iPod or not, carry water or not.
  • Plan to actually stop at the water stations for a drink. Don't try to run through them and grab a cup.
  • Remember it's just running and I can stop and go to the bathroom if I need to.
For the Frosty Five race in particular,
  • position myself (and Scott) about 2/3 of the way back from the starters.
  • remember that I am setting the pace for this race and be sure to let Scott know what that pace is or if I need to change it.
  • Wednesday & Thursday nights will be important rest nights. Friday night I probably will be excited about the race and won't sleep good.
  • Be sure to drink lots of extra water the week of the race to hydrate my body.
So the race prep begins. It is only 3 weeks to the Frosty Five and I need to get ready!

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