Can you swear on your blog? Probably not. Anyway, my tempo run tonight sucked. It was terrible. The plan was to do 2 miles easy, 3 miles at 9:18 and then 1 mile easy. The windchill was -4 degrees when I left work (for my second-to-last day!), so I dutifully hopped on the treadmill. The 2 mile warm-up was fine, but the actual tempo part was tough. I took a brief walk break halfway into the tempo, and thought that I could for sure eek out the last 2.5 miles of the total run. But I tripped once and that kind of freaked me out. I think I just lost my balance or something; maybe I zoned out too much? I told myself to pay attention, and kept running. But then, with about .11 miles left of the tempo portion, I lost my balance again and almost went flying off the treadmill. That freaked me out, so I just walked the last bit of mileage to get to 5 miles. I was so dizzy, I didn’t think that I could run my cool-down mile. So, I threw in the towel.
It took me awhile to recover back in my apartment, too. I drank some hippie sports drink and tried to cool my body down. I think I just got too hot on the treadmill. There’s a couple of wall-mounted fans in the workout room, but none of them hit the treadmill that I like. I don’t know; now it just sounds like I’m making excuses. But it was a crappy run, and I felt completely wiped out afterwards. I was planning on running 10 miles on the ‘mill this weekend, but now I’m absolutely horrified at that thought. Sunday morning is supposed to be warmer than Saturday morning this weekend; I’m bundling up, and hitting the trails. I need to get some fresh air.
From Thursday, February 7th...
Ok, so I hit the trails finally. I did 2 laps around Isles, a tempo run of 5.56 miles. I managed to stay right on my target pace of 9:30 even with walk breaks. It did feel good to be outside again, and breathe the fresh air. Especially after the stinky run I had on Tuesday in the fitness room. But I had two flashes of annoyance during my run tonight, and I feel the need to expound upon them on my blog.
Flash of annoyance 1: The paths
HELLO MINNEAPOLIS PARK BOARD! You call that a cleared path? COME ON. I’ve run on…well, on almost anything better than what I ran on tonight. I am sorely disappointed in the Park Board this year, and the dismal condition of the paths. Icy, snowy, not clear. A real hazard, actually. I wonder if I would have grounds to sue if I fell and broke something? I always used to say that the Park Board would have the paths around the lakes cleared before the City of Minneapolis even started up its snow plows to clear the city streets, but I see that the tables have turned. The paths around the lakes are abysmal. I know that writing them won’t do any good, since I already tried that tactic and was basically told “too bad.” My latest thought is actually running for the Park Board myself.
Flash of annoyance 2: Running Groups
Yes, I know, I used to belong to a running group. But we were beat over the head with running etiquette from day one. Always run 2 by 2, always share the path. I see that the LifeTime Fitness and other groups are not so good with that as the Running Room. I just don’t understand why groups DON’T MOVE when they see another running coming. I actually exchanged glares with one woman tonight. She expected me to move, even though she could’ve easily moved a few inches to her right, and there would’ve been plenty of room for her to pass. I honestly think she expected me to step off the path and bow as she ran by. Annoying.
Other than that, it was a great run. Apparently, I have some pent-up anger to get out. ☺
I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow (☹), so I don’t know if I’ll be able to do my long run this weekend. But here’s to hoping!
Post-script: It's Saturday mid-day, and I'm typing wisdom-teeth-less. Still in a fair amount of pain, but the overall procedure went well. The actual extraction of my teeth took like, 5 minutes. I was really surprised. It didn't hurt at all, thank God, although the pressure and the cracking noises bothered me quite a bit. I was listening some Sarah MacLachlan in the hopes of calming me down, but apparently I should've cranked the Weezer! Anyway, I'm probably not going to make my long run tomorrow--I hadn't anticipated that I wouldn't really be eating a lot this weekend. But maybe I'll try to go for a walk on the treadmill. That's a decent compromise.
Ok, off for more Vicodin! (Disclaimer: I have a prescription.)
