Let me just say, Exercise really kicked me while I was down today. And again, I really don’t know how I ran those 2 miles before. I ran 1.5 miles total today following the training schedule and wow. It really wiped me out. It felt like it was the first time I ever ran. I was sucking air just wishing it were all over (the run that is; life isn’t that bad). I had a stitch in my side; my breathing went out the window; and it was just plain hard. I had visions of this slim and trim Lisa in a fancy black dress running in front of me, telling me to hurry up if I wanted to look like her (rather cheeky, but she looked great. And yes, I have a slight obsession with this vision of Lisa in a fancy black dress. What can I say? I have issues. At least I don’t talk to her. I only talk to Exercise, but he’s mean and someone’s got to put him in his place).
Tomorrow’s run is kind of freaking me out a little since I have to run 3/4 of a mile twice! David offered me some words of encouragement though. He said when he was in the military, one of his sergeants told him if he wanted to improve his run, he should work on steady breathing and also push hard at first and then you can ease off as you get into it more*. David said he probably shaved two minutes off his run by working on his breathing and another two minutes by pushing hard at the beginning. Wow, really?! That’s kind of what I did today. In the spirit of pushing myself, I, uh, pushed myself. Because I wanted to work on my time, I ran faster at the beginning. David said that is probably why I was so wiped out afterward. He said if you feel full of energy when you’re done running, you’re doing something wrong. So, tomorrow I’ll see how it goes. I will keep you all updated. In the meantime, hang in there! You can do it!
*Of note, after further talking to David, it appears I misunderstood slightly what he was getting at. He said if he wanted to “kill” himself on a PT (for all you non-military folk, this means Physical Training) test, then he would push hard at the beginning and then ease off. However, if you are not seeking to “kill” yourself, he recommended running at a pace in which it is comfortable enough to talk.
You can do it, Lisa!! It’s only the “M” street 🙂 one and a half times–and you can do that, no problem!!
And thanks for including the running advice! After I get done with my training, I’m going to start working on my time, and I’ll have to be sure to incorporate what you mentioned.
A little further clarification: If you want to do well on a timed event, start strong with a pace that you can sustain. Don’t ease in, and gun it at the end. Neither should you gun in and ease off: run well and keep it up. (Everyone is different, this is not law, it was what I found to be helpful.)
I was running a 16:30 2-mile. I shaved about 2:00 off with much better breath control. I shaved another two minutes off with a strong start and sustained run.
Lisa, keep up the good work: running and writing. And you are going to have to catch that woman, so you can beat her to a pulp. 🙂 I love you. You make me very happy.
Lisa… you are so cute! I admire this whole running thing. And i will not be joining you in this experiment. I will watch from the sidelines though!