I ran a 5k today with my friend Becky and her friends. Then I went and helped my mom do some gardening, followed by a quick stop by my mother-in-law’s house, where one of the world’s most useless real estate agents was having an open house. Gosh, the basement smells musty? Well, did the people you recommended to clean the place actually clean it? Because then it shouldn’t smell musty.
Anyway, I spent most of the afternoon feeling like crap, leading to the realization that I’m not very good at running outdoors. Becky’s going to stop inviting me to races if I don’t quit sucking out there, but I really don’t do well outside. Even in the nice air conditioned gym, I try to grab the treadmill that is under the fan. I seem to have trouble pacing myself outside, and I struggle on hills. This morning I got way too hot and had to stop and walk for a bit, although we did end well, picking back up and running the last half mile. We finished in something like 35:50, which isn’t the worst time ever, but it wasn’t great either. I’m sure without me along Becky would have been finished way earlier. Between the running and the gardening – digging holes, planting bushes, and lugging around 40 pound bags of mulch – I was completely worn out.
Two bottles of water, a bottle of Gatorade, a glass of lemonade and a glass of water later, I found myself sitting on the couch feeling dehydrated, head-achy and lousy. Clearly I need to work on building up my stamina. It would be nice to be able to run faster, but first I need to get less wimpy. I’m thinking I might work on some sort of training program and focus on getting ready for a Thanksgiving Day 10k. Hopefully that’s far enough away for me to make some real progress on gaining more endurance.
Relax, even in my prime (way back when) I never broke 28 minutes. And that was on a course that was mostly level or downhill. Plus it was nice and cool.
You should open a Portland office for Phillips.
I had a great time today! It was a beautiful -- although HOT -- day and it was fun to hang out with you and everyone else. And you know I do not take these races seriously at all, I am neither competitive nor athletic. So take a chill pill Hil ;-)
I suck suck suck in the hot weather too. Slows me down too, I never expect to run as fast on a hot day as on a cool one and I run outside all the time. You will do better as it gets cooler. Thanksgiving should be fine.
And hills are tough, too. I still complain about them and I do at least one hill almost every week. Hang in there. And yeah, races are for fun and a free ugly T-shirt. If you manage to finish at all ever, you are already ahead of all the people that are sitting on the couch eating Cheetos instead (not that there is anything wrong with that)
Hey at least your out there doing it, I think that deserves a big thumbs up and a woo hoo!!! I am in weight watchers and just j oinde tae kwon do, I am not good at it, and it will take me a long time to be in better shape, but I'm doing it, so yay for us :-)