Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tempo-ing

Run: 5 mi/47:50

So now I know that every Wednesday I've got some sort of physically draining tempo or fartlek run. They're fun in the sense that I get to see how fast I can actually go. They're not fun in that I can't quite seem to get the pace I want. No Garmin means I got to plan out those miles using Google Earth, and taking a hint from some marathoners I've seen, I wrote down the splits on my hand. I believe these are the right times. I could be wrong. A warm up mile, 3 miles at half-marathon pace, a cool down mile.
Now, of course, I had that first mile down pat. Easy. In fact, I did it too fast. I did the second mile (the first fast mile) EXACTLY on pace. I had a little party for myself in my head. Then it went downhill when the third mile was about 7 seconds off, and then fourth mile was about 15 seconds off. Oops. Now I know. I don't know how this training is going to go, and I don't know if I'll make my goal, but dag nabbit, I'm sure going to start trying harder.

After I lamented to my parents this morning, my dad pronounced "well, you've only got six weeks to get in shape!" Vote of confidence from Dad!! I have seven weeks, thank you very much.

And at least the good thing I've learned in the past is that when I really pick up the pace in my running, I get side stitches. The only thing that can cure them is making sure my breathing is even. The other thing I've learned is that I let my mind wander and I forget to focus on my pace. My mind gets distracted thinking about food, what I'm going to do that day, boys, the status of my busted knee, and how pretty the sunrise is.


One of my favorite pasttimes is checking my blood pressure. I don't know why. I think when I first started running, I learned that your pulse can be lowered significantly with running (or any other cardio sport), because your heart starts working more efficiently, is healthier, and doesn't have to pump blood as much. This is, of course, my uneducated view on things, because I got a C in biology class in college, so take that for what it's worth (which isn't a lot).

I checked my blood pressure, and as always, it was wonderful, and my pulse was 54. I'm healthy as a horse. A really healthy horse.

Well then Mom jokingly said I should check Lucy's blood pressure. I, being a good daughter, took her advice, and tried Lucy. Lucy looked unimpressed with the cuff, but immediately came to life when it started whirring right by her head. I do not have a picture of her freaking out over that because they're all blurry.

Well, apparently those cuffs don't work on dogs. Her arm is too skinny. ERROR!
Too bad. Dog discrimination.  


Here's a random picture of the preschoolers heading to breakfast this morning :) 

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