Now for the second entry of the day - Go to the previous one to read what this Diary is all about.
I went to the gym Saturday and ran a hard 2 miles and then worked the weights, but not real hard, just enough.
I've been reading Running for Women, a book given to me last year for my birthday by my online friend Kim. I love that book, and every time I start running again I drag it out to read cover to cover. But now I'm finally REALLY REALLY running again, and I've been devouring every detail in that book.
They have a race training schedule, which seems to me like it doesn't have enough miles in a week, but the author assures me (Yes, Me, I know she wrote this book just for Me) that the schedule is the best way to go and will get me a faster 10K time. So I studied that schedule all weekend, I mean really just about every minute of the day I was studying that schedule, trying to figure out how to fit that schedule into my week of Scott-Tuesdays, and Aptos weekends, and still take care of my job and two kids.
I managed to get up and run 2.4 miles Friday morning, so I know that since the schedule says 2 miles on Friday then I can do it. Tuesdays are non-running days, so that works out well. Thursdays are Pace days (running hard for 1/4 mile, running slow 1/8 mile, over and over) and I can go to the gym those days to do that on the treadmill. Saturdays are non-running days so I can go to the gym and lift weights all I want (the book says I can, so Nyaah). Sundays are the long run days.
Sundays are the days I'm in Kung-Fu.
Well. I gotta tell you, I am not the most coordinated kung-fu person. I haven't fallen right on my face... yet... and I know I'll improve, but my face lights up when I'm running like Scott's face lights up when he's doing kung-fu. I really like the tai chi, not the kung-fu so much. And the kung-fu practice kind of goes against my old ballet training (in every way possible) and it's been very difficult to untrain myself.
So. I told Scott this morning that I wanted to run this morning instead of class, but that I would come back for tai chi. He was fine with it. So I put my running clothes on and headed out.
Scott lives on Freedom Boulevard in Aptos, a beautiful mountain road that is quite hilly, but I studied it well over the weekend and noticed it's actually pretty flat from Highway 1 until about .25 miles from his house, then it inclines. I also found a big yellow mailbox in the road exactly one mile from his house, and it's 1.6 miles from his house to the freeway. So I decided to try to run to the freeway and back, but if I got tired I knew the mailbox would tell me the one mile mark.
Anyway, the sun was coming out at 9:25am when I started, but the air was still cool-cool-cool. So cool my breath would come foggily out my mouth and blur my vision for a second. I loved it. I ran the downhill beginning, then the straightaway for the rest of the way to the freeway. I was feeling GREAT, so I ran the whole way, then did a little loopy U-turn and started running back.
I ran and ran and ran, and didn't stop until right before the hill started. I walked for 50 feet to catch my breath, then started up it.
It was pretty tough. I ran for a bit, then walked, ran, then walked, but finally ran the rest of the way. I think I ran more than half that last hard 1/4 mile.
The tough part was getting back up the hill to Scott's house, it's really really steep.
But I made it.
3 miles. About 35 - 40 minutes. With about 45 minutes tai chi and kung-fu stances.