Whatever happened yesterday was thankfully not a reversion back to my old un-athletic self. I think it was because I waited too long between my warm-up stretch and my actual run. Or the machine I was using was just not good, although I can't imagine how that could be. Anyway, after a good stretch I walked over to the gym, found the last unoccupied treadmill in the center of the fitness room, and just settled.
I was supposed to do a 30-minute timed workout. I was able to run for about 15 minutes before deciding that it was enough running, walked for a few minutes, ran for another 5. I did two more run/walk alternates, and at some point, as my 30-minute workout was about to end, I saw that I had passed the 2-mile mark, and for pure amusement wondered if I would make my way to a 5K. I mean, it would be a 5K regardless whether I walk or run the rest of it right? It would take more than 30 minutes, but that didn't matter. It wasn't as if I was going to be late for something if I don't immediately stop my workout after 30 minutes. I ran for another while, and walked the rest of the distance.
I know that 5km is about 3.1 miles, but I wasn't sure exactly, so I ended up doing 3.3 miles, for good measure. Here's my graph:
This is like a combination of my past two runs. I kept a nice pace for the first mile or so, crashed, but instead of giving up I alternated between running and walking the rest of the way, like I did yesterday. I'm sure with more practice I will be able to lengthen my subsequent running periods, and keep a faster pace. I can now run comfortably between 5.2 and 5.3 mi/hr.
Interesting related things:
- Ran into my lab manager on my way to the gym. She was on her way back from yoga.
- As I passed the football field I saw that the gate to the field was open, which means that open field season is starting again. During summer/fall the field is open for anyone in the community to use from dawn to sunset. I thought about running a few laps around the track to calibrate my sensor for outdoor runs, but when I got out of the gym the sun had set and the gate was locked. Oh well, there are still some puddles in the back of the track anyway. So maybe next time.
- When I started to run my shins began to hurt in an alarming way. I think I may need to walk a bit before running, despite the warm-up walk from home to the gym. I didn't want to stop running so I altered my running posture. I raised my legs a bit more and transferred all my motions to my thighs, which helped in that my shins weren't hurting anymore. I stretched a lot afterwards and didn't feel injured, but could still feel slight acute pains in my calf, ankle, and other areas of my legs. I hope they don't leave me long-term injuries.
- The gym is somewhat crowded but not as much as before. There was a spinning class going on so all the cubbies were occupied but there were still a number of machines available. I saw a fellow grad student who's in my year also running. I suspect he was also training for the 5K. He looked like he was running much better than me.
- All the triumphant feelings I got from running were successfully crushed by my celebratory ramen and chocolate ice cream. The weight-losing part of my plan is not going very well.
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