Sunday, March 02, 2008

We are Okay to Go!

I am very pleased to report that my planned 3-mile run with longtime friend Diana went off without a hitch yesterday! The numb foot of Thursday night was, thank God, nowhere to be found. Perhaps this was due to the regular stretching and massaging I had done over the past couple days, or the new "parallel lacing" scheme I found on runnersworld.com that relieved pressure on the top of my feet, or fact that it was now a pleasant 45 degrees and sunny out. It was likely a combination of all of those things.

End result? A slow as hell 48:38 5K over very hilly terrain -- and by "hilly," I mean a 14% incline at one point. Ugh! Add to that Diana's refusal to let me deviate from her predetermined 3:1 run:walk ratio, and my 16 minute pace left me exhausted. They say you're supposed to maintain a "conversational" pace while running -- that is, be able to have a conversation without panting or gasping for air. Well, Diana will confirm that I did indeed keep it conversational... for about the first 8 minutes. After that, the conversation went something like this:
Matt (gasping): They ---- say ----- should ---- be ---- able ta ----- talk but ---- I can't ----
Diana (perfectly fine): Don't talk.
Matt (panting): Why --- can't ---- walk for ---- TWO minutes.....
Diana: No. We can reduce the running time if you want, but you can only walk for one minute at a time.
Matt (dying): Why --- aren't --- you ------- tired!
Diana (not tired): I am tired. I'm just not breathing heavily.
Matt: Wha? Howza?
Diana: I learn breathing techniques in Yoga.
Matt: bzz kjes fp eeee z (gurgle)
Diana: Don't talk. Focus on your form.
Matt (dead).

Mind you, this is all even more ridiculous than it sounds, as we were literally jogging at about 4 miles per hour. The only time I ran faster than that was when, around 2.5 miles into the run, Diana told me I could rest once we got to that Starbucks up there.

Zooooom!

Yes, I sprinted 1/10 mile to the Starbucks, doubling my speed to 7-8 mph, because that way I could rest sooner! Diana chastized me for sprinting -- "You shouldn't sprint at the end of your run! You're not going to get any benefit out of it! You're just going to get sore!" -- but I was just happy to finally have a chance to rest.

Shortly thereafter, Diana and I parted ways, as I jogged a final 1/4 mile around my block to hit the 3 mile mark, and she took the bus home.

No, she actually jogged the 2.5 miles home, on top of the 3 she jogged with me, on top of the 2.7 it took for her to jog to my place in the first place!

I hope I am never as crazy as Diana.

5 comments:

  1. Hehehe... Matt is a huge red-haired wussy compared to Diana. Or just about anybody ;)

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  2. Found you on the Complete Running Network. You'll find others stopping by soon.

    You will also find that you will become crazy like Diana. Encouraging others and running with them - you'll pay it forward in time.

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  3. I never told you you could rest once we got to Starbucks. I said "Just make it to Starbucks" which is a little mental trick to use when you're winded... just make it to the next driveway... then to the next tree... then to the NEXT tree... keep doing that and you'll be home!

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  4. Hey, Matt. I feel your pain. I used to laugh when people described doing interval training where you speed up and slow down because I am pretty much always going as fast as I can. There is no faster.

    Having said that, I have improved in spite of myself. I wish the same for you!

    I will keep checking back to hear about your progress towards the 10-miler (and will figure out what that is in "Canadian" kms).

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  5. complete serendipity that i found your blog today - i need to relace my shoes to alleviate pain i'm feeling on the top of my fott due to a high instep & the addition of a heel lift in my shoe! nice link you put in there! thanks!

    i bet you'll be as crazy as your friend diana in short time - i think we runners tend to start to do things we never thought we once would. and then, we start to love the inasnity of it all.

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