The last thing you want to see before your last long run before a race is heavy rain. One of the runners in the group said that there was heavy rain by her house and she was going to the gym instead. I was torn on what to do so I thought I would drive to the lake if by chance the rain would end by the time I got there. On the drive there, the rain was really light so I thought this was a good sign. When I arrived at the lake, it was a downpour once again. I should have turned around at that time but I just kept on driving. As I arrived at the meeting site, I saw all these runners (the marathon group) running back to their cars and driving off. There was going to be no running at the lake this morning. I should have stayed home in the first place.
When I got back home, my only option was to do the 10 miles on my treadmill. I could have waited for the rain to end but I was in my running clothes and I just wanted to get the run over with. Now my treadmill was setup in the basement but it was facing the wall looking at my dad’s tools. I couldn’t stare for 2 hours at tools so I turned the treadmill around which wasn’t an easy feat. I turned on the TV which is on the other end of the basement. With the noise of the treadmill and the TV being far from the treadmill, I couldn’t hear the TV. I needed noise so I moved my iPod near the treadmill. So here I am in the basement on the treadmill, watching the TV and listening to music. The whole thing was very pathetic looking.
There are digital readouts on my treadmill like the time and distance that are accurate but the pulse rate and calories burned don’t always seem right to me. I did notice that the calories only go up to 999 and the time only goes up to 99:99 minutes so I was wondering what happens when I hit those numbers. I found out that the calorie count just starts over but the time is another story. The treadmill actually stopped when I maxed out the time. Luckily, I had slowed down my pace to drink so water or I would have not been prepared for that sudden stop.
After running one mile on the treadmill, I was ready to quit. It seemed so difficult to run. After awhile I realized that the floor of my dad’s workshop is on a slight incline. I felt like the Princess and the Pea feeling something like that. By mile 4, I felt I got my grove back and finished all 10 miles. I would not recommend doing long distances on a treadmill because it is so boring. Doing the 10 miles was important to me for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure that my body could handle running for that long. Second, I needed to know mentally that I could run that distance. My last 10 miles run was such a struggle that I needed to get my confidence back.
After I was done running, my clothes were soaking wet like they have never been before. I sat on a chair to take off my running shoes and when I got up, there was a puddle where I sat. My shirt is always soaked but that was a first for my pants being soaked. I was never so glad to get out of those clothes and jump into the shower.
For the rest of Saturday, my body felt like it ran 10 miles. I wasn’t in any pain but just sore. Today, my body felt great and all the soreness was gone. Keeping in the racing spirit, I went to RAM today to pick up my racing packet for the Terrapin 5K on Thursday. My son went with me since he needed to get new running shoes to take to college. Since the Half Marathon is next Sunday, this week will be a light week for running.
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