I've been smiling a bit bigger this week. I can finally run and I'm feeling really good about it. Unfortunantly, I think my position and components on my road bike needs to be fixed so Karel and I will work on that this weekend. My crankset is a bit different than my tri bike and old Blue so Karel is going to swap his Cervelo crankset with mine.....or something like that. Not sure what he does with my bike but I trust him 100%. He is the best mechanic in my opinion and he is a true perfectionist only because he is so passionate about bikes. I think my groin bursitis is not healing as quickly due to the bike so I've been laying low on the cycling this week. Luckily, it is working and I can run!! I'm planning on riding with the guys tomorrow but I think just resting my leg a bit and not riding as much is helping a lot! Anyways, yesterday I thought it couldn't get any better. After a 3,000 yrd easy swim workout I jumped on the treadmill and started walking. After 5 min. I was ready to jog. I did a total of 38 min. of running with some walk breaks after 10-13 min. of running. I did 5 miles and I felt really good running at 6.3 mph. I was feeling really good towards the last 10 min. so I had to take it up to 6.5 mph. I didn't want to get too worked up at the beginning but everyone at the gym knew how happy I was to be running for so long on the treadmill. Yay! So this morning my cell phone alarm went off at 5:30am and Karel and I were both up ready to get some coffee going. Karel debated about going to the gym with me since it rained all last night but he decided to ride. I think he is enjoying his morning ride cause I'm back from the gym and he is still gone! MY mission this morning was to run. I told myself that I would be running this morning on the treadmill. Therefore, I dressed like a runner. I've been wearing regular sport shorts with an elastic waist and semi-breathable material. No reason to wear running shorts if I'm not running. Well, today I called myself a runner. I put on my Favorite Blue Nike shorts that i wore at the Miami marathon (my first marathon in 2006). I absolutely love these shorts. The shorts have slits on the sides which validate that they are running shorts and i enjoyed showing a little leg today since I was planning on running. To make a long story short, I covered 5.6 miles and felt great. 10 minute warm-up and I started running. 20 minutes at 6.4-6.5 mph. Wow, i couldn't believe it! I wasn't even running half that speed before Kona. I couldn't even move my legs at 3 mph for a walk without hurting. I couldn't even walk the entire month of September without hurting. To make my run even better today, I walked another 10 minutes and then ran again at 6.8 mph for another 20 minutes. I don't care about how fast i was running a year ago and I don't care if people are running faster than me right now...Today I could dress like a runner and I felt like a runner!
Not sure who reads my blog but for the people out there (and we all know one of them) that aspire to do a marathon, a half marathon, a 15K or even a couple miles on the treadmill....I give them so much credit for their completion. I hear so many times "Am I a runner if I don't do races? Am I a runner if I do 5 min. miles? If I walk and jog, does that make me a runner? YES!!! It's a running race and you a part of it. Never let someone tell you that you don't belong. I do feel that slower runners should stay near the back of the pack for safety reasons and to give the faster runners more space, but that doesn't mean that you have to run x-speed to sign up for a race. If you have a goal of doing a marathon or a 10K, sign up and train for it. You can do it! Even if your fastest time for a 5K is 45 min, you have just as much right to be out there as those running it in 15 min. I would be so upset if someone told me that I wasn't a runner if I was jogging in a race right now. Enjoy the fact that you are out there with so many people who share similar goals. When you sign up for a race everyone wants to reach the finish line but we all have different ways of getting there. And most of all, dress like the runner you are! Have a healthy day!
Not sure who reads my blog but for the people out there (and we all know one of them) that aspire to do a marathon, a half marathon, a 15K or even a couple miles on the treadmill....I give them so much credit for their completion. I hear so many times "Am I a runner if I don't do races? Am I a runner if I do 5 min. miles? If I walk and jog, does that make me a runner? YES!!! It's a running race and you a part of it. Never let someone tell you that you don't belong. I do feel that slower runners should stay near the back of the pack for safety reasons and to give the faster runners more space, but that doesn't mean that you have to run x-speed to sign up for a race. If you have a goal of doing a marathon or a 10K, sign up and train for it. You can do it! Even if your fastest time for a 5K is 45 min, you have just as much right to be out there as those running it in 15 min. I would be so upset if someone told me that I wasn't a runner if I was jogging in a race right now. Enjoy the fact that you are out there with so many people who share similar goals. When you sign up for a race everyone wants to reach the finish line but we all have different ways of getting there. And most of all, dress like the runner you are! Have a healthy day!