Exercise Diary: First time track run

After yesterday's massaging of the knot on my shin the pain surprisingly went away.  It actually felt really good, like this whole week's disastrous injuries had never happened.  And it was so nice out, sunny and with high of 54 degrees.  I was seriously thinking of running outside, but was too afraid that I would stop midway due to my legs, or the weather (it's still chilly out), or being too embarrassed to be seen.  Besides, I've never run anywhere other than on the treadmills yet.

I thought about running on our football field track, but found its "main" gate to be locked, although one of the side gates was closed but unlocked.  And there wasn't anyone on the field or on the track.  In the middle of the football field there was a sign that began with "track closed", but continued saying something that was too small for me to read.  So I decided to run on the indoor track instead.  Baby steps.

I never liked the indoor track.  It's situated above the basketball court, and extremely stuff and hot in the summer.  And it's tiny.  You need to run 14 laps to get 1mile.  I tried to run on it before and got dizzy after a few laps.  But you know, I was only going to do a mile, 14 laps, what's the worst that could happen?

And since I was there at 1pm on Easter Sunday, there was hardly anyone on the track.

I hated the tiny track.  I lost count after about 4 laps, and was too tired to think.  I was running clockwise (clockwise on even dates, CCW on odd dates), so my left foot was hurting.  And I kept having to turn, which was extremely annoying.  I just had to stop after 8.5 laps.  I was angry at myself for doing so, but my left food really need a rest.  I completed one mile by stopping to walk 2 more times, and called it a day.

My Nike+ told me I did 1.03 miles.  It always liked to over-calculate the distance but I guess it's still not too far off.  And with all the walking it only took 12:43, which is less time than I expected.  It wasn't much, but it did give me confidence to move outdoors next time.

I then went upstairs to run some more on the treadmill, but am too embarrassed to talk about it.  It wasn't a good run.

Interesting things:

• When I left the gym there was one guy running on the outdoor track.  I then realized that the gate I always considered the main gate isn't actually the main one.  There's another much bigger gate next to the concession tent that is probably the real one.  Since it's next to the varsity house and locker rooms and everything.
• I've been lazy for the past several weekends in terms of working.  I've been getting better at thinking of excuses to not go to lab.  And so far my most favorite way to spend my weekend is to get up (hopefully before noon) and go to the gym, come back and take a nice long shower, cook something I normally do not eat on weekdays, and take a long nap in the afternoon like a lazy cat.  I did that for both days this weekend and it was blissful.
• I saw a girl running on the road today carrying a small water bottle.  This ignited my desire to get a handheld bottle.  But after some searches on Amazon I gave up on the idea and went back to my original plan to design the best routes that have places where I can stop and buy hydration.  But I did see a running belt with a pouch for water bottle (bottle included) that also had a nice pocket for storing other things.  The reviews said it doesn't bounce.  I was tempted.  Maybe when I'm graduated to longer runs and races I will consider buying it.  I think the brand is Nathan's.