Day 130-B: Three More for the Road

Yeah, so I think this is the first time I've ever run twice in one day! I'm trying to make up for many lost miles. I've officially decided to give myself a pardon for all of last week, but this week I was supposed to run 4 miles on Monday but couldn't; and then was supposed to run 5 this morning but only ran three. Now that I'm feeling physically better, I have a strong desire to get back on track. All day I fantasized about running anywhere from 3-6 miles tonight after work.

Following a fun sushi get-together with my cousin Tom, I took myself home and strapped on the gear. Still stiff from the morning's workout, and possibly having some residual effects from the stomach virus, I needed a significant warm up and so walked for 10 minutes before turning the machine off and on again, and beginning my timed run.

My first mile was very strained. I went at 5.1 mph most of the way and listened to Vivaldi because I'm really burned out on all my running music. At the close of the first mile I had to walk a tenth of a mile. I sipped water, ate a bean, and then cranked the speed up again to 5.7 and higher. In all, the three miles took me 36 minutes, netting a pace of 12:00 per mile.

When I came back to my apt I went online and signed up to volunteer for the NYC Half Marathon on March 21. This is the Half I'd considered entering the Lottery for before I found the Women's Half in April. I'll be manning a water station and I can't wait... I had the option to work posts at the start or finish, but I decided I wanted to be out there where the action would be... I wanted to see how runners look when they're running, the expressions on their faces as they grab a cup and go. I don't know what I look like when I'm running but maybe I'll learn something about that by looking into the faces of other runners who are pushing themselves. I like the job because it will let me truly be useful to someone else... and in return, I will also get something important back. I need to volunteer for a race this year as part of my qualification process for running in the 2011 Marathon! Nothing like planning ahead.