No Sweat

I did it! Not without pain but I did manage to run six miles today. No sweat. Actually, lots of sweat but my nifty running clothes with wicking took care of the sweat.

My mantra was slow and steady. I didn't even take my music player, because The Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop and my other music tends to cause me to pick up the pace unconciously. And sing out loud, which can be embarrassing.

So how slow did I go? Let's just say that this one speed walker kicked my butt most of the way. We kept passing each other. She was truly walking fast; and I was truly running slow. I think I came a long way from last week when I told one of my running partners we had to pass the walker right away. That got me around six days of painful calves. So this time I embraced my inner penguin and took it nice and slow. Yes, I guess I was jogging, but dammit I did it for six miles!

When I got home I logged my miles on my spreadsheet and looked at my total miles so far. 287 miles since January! Then I looked at my shoe miles, and added all the walking warm ups and cool downs, and realized I had logged over 300 miles on my shoes. Time for new shoes! One of my friends from work suggested I get my shoes checked out when she read my post on shin splints, and I think she may be right. I wear Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6, but I think I need more cushioning. I will let the experts at Fleet Feet help me to select new shoes.

My husband's new running toy came in the mail today. He bought a Garmin Forerunner 305. It has a GPS receiver and can tell you how many miles you are going and your pace in real time. It has a lot of cool features. I can't wait to try it out on my 10 miler next week. Our running trail is poorly marked so I never know when to hit the button on my watch for my splits (laps). Knowing minutes per mile helps you to set your pace.

So I guess today's run was encouraging. I was able to do it and hopefully not be in so much pain this week that I can't do the rest of my miles. And I should have new shoes before my next long run which should really help. And a cool new running toy to try!

I'm not discouraged by my inability to run fast. Apparently, based on my half marathon time I should be training at a slower pace than I am currently running my long runs. And when I look at my list of reasons I run, "winning," "going fast" or "passing the walkers" are not on the list. I feel good, and, frankly, especially in my running clothes, I look pretty good, too. I love running.

Daily Running Log: 6 miles, 12:22 m/m. Beautiful day. Nice easy run. Power to the penguins!