Count Down to 5K

October 5, 2015, Purps, Coffee Talk, , 2

Yes, another running post. My second ever 5k is quickly approaching and I am, of course, cramming to get in some more training before the big day. I honestly never thought I would willing get up in the morning and put on running clothes so that I could go for a run on my own after dropping my husband off at work. I’ll admit it was super tempting to stay in bed this morning, but we’re going out with friends this evening, so I have to pick Logan up from work anyway. It was also super tempting to go out in my Geneva sweat pants and Lincoln Park baseball-tee and just not leave the car at all until I got home. But, I was a good girl and got dressed in my running clothes and went running in the graveyard, even though I dislike the hills. I considered going to the park instead, but that’s an additional like twenty minutes of driving that I was not into this morning.

I’m not sure I’d call myself a runner yet. I run surprisingly more often than I ever thought I would, but I’m not sure I’m ready to adopt it as part of my identity. Still, I’m getting more into it than I expected. Last month I went shopping with my sister (Happy Birthday to her, by the way!) and bought all sorts of running clothes and felt totally justified in most of it. She’s a bad influence in this department. I bought a jacket for running in the cold and long pants to wear and a long sleeve shirt to run in that has dry tech or something to keep me from getting sweaty, I now feel super legit. I never thought I would need more than one pair of running pants.

It was a good thing I bought the cold-weather running clothes when I did, too. This past week was super chilly and I still went running twice. I was rather proud of myself but I am uncertain how I feel about running in the cold. One of my main complaints about running to begin with was that feeling in your  throat when you’re out of breath, and the coughing. You know, when you breath a lot of cold air and it makes you cough? Yeah, I hate that. I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was running in the cold or the fact that I did a mile in 12:24 minutes, which, I mean, is a great time for me, but also not super fun for the breathing. I’m still working on that. Today’s run clocked in at a little over 14 minutes and was half a mile longer without any coughing or unpleasant breathing sensations. It was also quite a bit warmer.

So I’m definitely getting faster, which is good. I’m not sure about distance, though. It’s so hard to myself to do another lap when I’ve already done that hill three times and I’m so not into doing it again. I did manage two miles last time I ran with my sister and didn’t even feel to bad afterward. They say training on a hill is hard but it makes running on a flat track seem so much easier. We’ll find out if that’s true on Saturday, I guess. I’m hoping it is, and maybe I’ll try and do two miles in the park if I get a chance to run again this week before the 5K.

I also need to look up something about this ankle pain I keep getting when I run a lot. It’s on the inside of my left ankle and usually happens around when I’m reaching the first mile mark. I figure it’s probably something with the shoes I’m wearing, so today I switched shoes to an older pair that are a little too big, I think. A friend gave them to me a few years back. Anyway, I tried them out today and I didn’t get the ankle pain, but now my one toenail is digging into the toe beside it and that’s not a good time. I like my purple shoes, but I don’t want to be getting that pain during the 5K on Saturday. I don’t remember getting it during my last 5K, but then again, that was a few months ago. Maybe my shoes are just wearing out. Anyway, I’ll probably try to figure out what to do about my toes for the race and go with the white shoes, just to be safe.

So here we go again. This will be my husband’s first ever 5K and my second, though the first one that I’ll actually run the usual 3.1 miles for. My cousin assures me it’s a straight shot down and back on a fairly flat stretch of road so there is no chance of me getting lost this time, and no hills to slow me down too much. I’m planning on listening to Sawbones for the race since they tend to be around 40 minutes and I can set my own pace, as apposed to trying to keep up with the music. I tend to push myself too much when I listen to punk. Though maybe I’ll try some swing next time I run. That could be fun. Thanks to all my running friends who have been super supportive of my running journey! And wish me luck this week!

5k, family, health, husband, running, shoes, sister, speed

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