Flat-Lander

Rather than hitting the hills today, I relied on my kind but dull treadmill and ran the 'flat-lands'. The weather, above freezing, didn't favor running. A bit too foggy on the rural route for the dusty orange colored windbreaker that I commandeered from the Apple Farmer.

After all of my whining over running those mocking and frozen hills that meander past our farm, I am now ready to confess that they have been a big help to me in just the five times that I've run them in the last week and a half! Progress, still, has been very slow going for me and my impatience hasn't been extremely motivating for journaling about. Yet, I'm once again recognizing that without documenting the hard and pathetically slow runs, and writing only about the landmark runs, I set myself up to reflect back on the highlights, which would never truly represent the growth that this quest will finally bless me with when I complete my first 5K race in September.

I'm very pleased to report that my knee, along with some hip pain, seems to have resolved itself. I credit this to the advice my friend Jessica gave me, to raise my incline from zero to .05 or 1.0. Upon making this change, the relief was immediate, even though I initially bawled about having to run up a 'hill' during my workouts. The pain slowly healed and I have been two weeks without any issues now.

A couple of weeks ago, I also began setting the 5K race on my treadmill, rather than running until I hit three miles. I really like this setting for several reasons. I set my pace, it keeps time and 'remembers' my finishing time while I walk to cool down, and it counts down from 5K to 0. For some reason, counting down, rather than counting up just feels better for me! The think that I love most about running in kilometers, rather than miles, is that kilometers count down a lot faster than miles do, even though I'm running the same distance! When I hit the button that sends my very slow running pace up to a 'running-for-my-life' pace, I get great satisfaction out of watching those numbers turning so fast that they even have to skip 2, 3 or even 5 numbers to keep up with me!!

Today's run was one of those landmark runs. First, I ran 5K without stopping to walk. This was very exciting since I was really feeling doubt that I had any capability left in me to run like I used to. I was excited to make it half-way through the run with ease. Since I had made it to the half-way point with ease, I felt that completing the run without stopping would be a realistic challenge. The last 2 K I had to employ a lot of positive self talk, with the last 1 K requiring a lot of determination to keep moving. Obviously, this run would also qualify as my 'pre-mid-life' personal best time, since I was able to complete it without walking. My 5K times prior to the drudgery of running my hills have made steady improvement: 43 minutes and 20 seconds,
40 minutes and 12 seconds, and a lucky 40 minutes and 9 seconds. My time today was 37 minutes and 30 seconds.

A lot of my impatience and frustration as I plug away at my goal stems from the memory of my personal best when I was 23 years old. My time was based on a 3 mile run and not a 5k run. I haven't taken the time to figure out how the pace would transfer over to a 5K because 3 miles is getting pretty close to a 5K, except to figure that it was fast in comparison with what I now manage! I completed the 3 miles in 21 minutes and 18 seconds which averages to a 7 minute 6 second mile. Not fast compared to many, but it still felt great to finish with that time as my best time! I may never reach that pace again, or maybe I will. I don't know what my body still has in it! I do have to constantly remind myself that what I am accomplishing now is what is important, and even though the progress has been slow, I need to focus on the fact that it all has been progress!