A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Goin' South

Photobucket



This week is totally crazy for me. We've got construction going on at our house, I have plans every night after work, and my weekend is booked. Not a good plan for someone with a race on Sunday!

So, since I wouldn't have a chance to run after work any night this week I brought my running stuff to work for a lunch time run. I haven't run at lunch since August! Kim got injured and I somehow got dropped from the email list of the people from work who run at lunch. They were doing mostly long runs in the morning before work anyway since most of them were training for the Chicago marathon and then I just figured that they were taking a break post-marathon.

I wasn't looking forward to running on my own at lunch. The sun was out (hooray!) but it was rather chilly. But, I'd packed my gym bag so I dragged my butt to the locker room. Imagine my surprise when the other woman from the work lunch time running group showed up! Turns out they are indeed still running at lunch Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was so happy to see them.

We went south along the path that heads toward Soldier Field. I'd never run south with them so it was fun to try a new path. And we were booking it! The Garmin data on my computer says that my fastest speed was over 3000 miles per hour. Garmin, sometimes I wonder about you. Actually, my splits look really funny, too, because I didn't pause the Garmin at the halfway point while we paused to regroup. Check those out down below.

On the way back, two of the guys decided to run through a gaggle of geese sitting on the grass. Turns out, Chicago geese don't care about runners. The geese totally ignored them!

It was a good run. I started to lag towards the end of the third mile but thankfully so did the other woman I was running with. Let's just say we were drafting off the guys in front of us :-)

********************

The reason I couldn't run after work on Tuesday was because it was the monthly Oak Park Runners Club meeting. This month's topic? My favorite thing! Yoga!

No, seriously, we did lots of standing poses and a few floor poses that were way more about stretching and strengthening. I think I could MAYBE get into that type of yoga. What was hilarious is that we were all competing with each other to see who could do the pose "the best". I guess that's what happens when you get a bunch of competitive runners in one room. Also, I had to laugh when everyone moaned about tree pose. I like tree pose!

So, yeah. A good run followed by some yoga that didn't make me want to roll my eyes. Overall, a great day in workout land.

**********************

Stats


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:591 ft
Location:Chicago, ILElev. Gain:+17 ft
Date:11/03/09Up/Downhill: [+177/-160]
Time:12:21 PMDifficulty:1.9 / 5.0
 
Weather:A Few Clouds
 46 F temp; 33% humidity
 46 F heat index; winds NW 3
Performance

Distance: 3.80 miles
Time:0:34:28
Speed:6.6 mph
Pace:9' 04 /mi
Calories:456
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
18' 32-0' 327.0+0.4+23 ft
29' 46+0' 426.1-0.5-16 ft
38' 32-0' 327.0+0.4-3 ft
end9' 40+0' 366.2-0.4+13 ft
Versus average of 9' 04 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

5 comments:

Chris said...

When we remodeled the house ever it was crazy. Everything is so dusty. I don't miss that at all, but the end result is nice.

Bayjb said...

Wow I think that's great you got in a lunchtime run. Don't worry if it wasn't the best, I know you're off schedule this wek

kristen said...

3000 miles per hour. Dang girl. All that time off really paid :) Lunchtime runs sound like a great way to beat that afternoon slump that usually hits me around 1:30. Hmmmm. Food for though.

No Longer Using said...

it's so interesting you bring this up because i JUST read an article on tues and then again on a yoga studio's website yesterday how competitive personalities really benefit from yoga because it is the antithesis of competition. lol. but you have to try to let go.

good luck on sunday! i wish i had the days completely free up to my races, cuz it's all i want to think about...

kilax said...

Maybe gyms should start having "Yoga for Runners" classes!

I miss running during lunch. I am happy you found the group!

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.