Done!

My very first 5 k is done! It was COLD in D.C. this morning but the sun was out and I made it through. I was fortunate to have my friend Aline to run with. We both finished in under 45 minutes which was my goal for this race.

Now I am desperately trying to warm up. Hot coffee and homemade veggie pizza (with tempeh "sausage" - yum!) seem to be helping. I plan on spending the rest of my day curled up the couch with hot tea and movies. Tomorrow will be a yoga day instead of running day but now that's it's officially spring the weather should be warming up and I can get more out door runs in. Stay tuned for the next race!

Do Over?

Ugh, today I had the WORST run. My 5K is this Sunday and I hate to lose a training day but today I threw in the towel. I had a great run on Monday and anticipated that today would be just as great. I hopped on the treadmill and as soon as the run started I knew something was off. I've been having a tiny bit of soreness and tiredness but it usually wears off within the first few minutes. This time my hip hurt and my legs felt heavy and I was already breathing hard and I just wasn't feeling it. So, instead of pushing myself I decided to stop only 12 minutes in. I didn't want to run the risk of getting hurt. I know 3.1 miles is no big whoop to most people but it is for me.

So, I decided to give up on my run 12 minutes in and tried the bike instead. I have not been good about cross training at all AND I know I need new sneakers but have been putting it off until the first race is over. But even on the bike my legs felt heavy and kind of achey. So, I gave up after about 6 minutes and just decided to stretch and have a healthy dinner instead. I'm hoping that I can get a do-over tomorrow morning with better results.

Lesson Learned

The Sprinkles truck paid a visit over by my office today and gave out 400 free cupcakes. They sold out in about an hour so I was lucky to get one. They are delicious and sugary and after eating one I didn't want an afternoon snack. Turns out that a cupcake is not a good pre-run snack. Flash forward about 3 hours and I hit a major wall with about 10 minutes left in the run. There was almost an incident. It reminded me of how I felt back in college when I thought it would be a great idea to roll out of bed and go straight to my 8AM swim class with no food or water and almost passed out in the showers afterward. Lesson learned: eat a proper healthy snack before working out. Always.

But, I survived and managed to make it through all of my run anyway even if it was a little erratic at the end. I've gone from being the girl huffing and puffing and dying after running for just 2 minutes to the girl who can run for almost 30 straight minutes without a break in just 6 short weeks. Imagine what I will be able to do in another 6 weeks!

And, I found another race to run! I found via my neighborhood blog that there is a Dead Man's Run 5K through the historic Congressional Cemetery. All proceeds go to the Cemetery's preservation society. It's the week before the Capitol Hill Classic 10K so it should be a good, fun practice run. I'm really excited about it!