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.

Posted by Bad Penguin at September 9, 2007 10:42 PM