Proud of an achievement.. embarrassed at a fall

Mile: 107

I ran a grand slam of seventeen miles in central park yesterday after taking Thursday off, clocking in at 2 hours and 24 minutes; I'd been aiming for sub- 2:30 so that worked out just right :) It was a pleasantly cool but sunny day that beckoned persistence. Although a few people passed me in the short run, it seemed like no one was going the distance I was; they went off the road or stopped running within a mile or two of striding past with their brand-spanking-new Ipods and gleaming bronze tans. Arrogant to the last, they can be. Then again, so am I when it comes to going faster than everyone else. I get used to running past casual joggers so often that it feels like my natural right to pass all runners... even if they've got the form and pace of Junior Olympics athletes (I made the mistake of challenging one a few months ago during a hill).

At any rate, the first loop was slow going because I didn't want to overexert myself after two-a-days the week before, but once I realized I was holding myself back I picked up the pace and gave it my all, finishing the second loop 4 - 5 minutes faster and the third one only a minute slower than that. I still don't have the perfect playlist down for runs, but it did the job this time around - my heart and soul was in this one from the beginning to the last mile.

I did a 5k this morning with my mom, as we usually do in the mornings in EastHampton. Unfortunately I tripped and fell on an uneven sidewalk, injuring my knee. I don't know the extent of this injury, and It doesn't seem THAT bad, but at the same time I can't walk straight without being in pain. We'll see how long it takes to recover from this one.

Kinda humiliating to be on the 'hurt' list from one of these slow and short runs, I must confess =/ I thought I'd've been able to run a 10k on Sunday FAST if this hadn't happened.

20-miler by next Wednesday. It WILL happen.

Reckless Move

Mile: 61 (including what I did on Saturday and today, which is the subject of this post)

Allright, so I allowed myself a day of rest on Friday after the Broadway run, but I wanted to get back into the swing of things Saturday. Guess who smartly left their running shoes in New Jersey while I was all the way out in Easthampton? Yup... x( but I was determined to be productive somehow, so I decided to run barefoot like the Kenyans alongside my mum. Slow and easy pace, good conversation, and decently paved asphalt meant the going was fine until we hit some privately-owned roads. Ever tried running on broken glass? That just BEGINS to describe how painful the ordeal was. Even so, It was kind of cool to run barefoot and I DID get three miles in that day.

Took another day off on Sunday since I was still shoe-less and a bit sore from the previous day's run. Today, however, I had that URGE to get to it, so I headed for the park to try and break a distance record or two. I drank a bottle of water beforehand, brought one along with me, and polished it off before I began the stated distance; 10 kilometers. I was doing GREAT! Had a fresh new playlist going on my Ipod full of fast-paced music, temperature held steady, and I felt really strong even though I was sweating like CRAZY. After the hill on 82nd, however, things got bad very quickly. I sweated faster but was overheating, running in a haze, and by 90th street began to recognize what was possibly heatstroke. I know that you're supposed to work through muscle pains, stomach cramps, and what have you but THIS was too much. Couldn't even see thirty feet in front of me by that point, the sweat was pouring into my eyes I stopped running and checked my time on the stopwatch;

4 miles in 23:26 minutes

Allright. Fine. Checking weather.com, It's 93 degrees out today in broad daylight. Lovely! This is why I'm titling today's post 'reckless'... I was told not to run when it's above 75 out and for good reason it seems. Provided it cools down tonight, I'll round off my mileage with an 8-miler at a slower pace. If it doesn't: fuhgedaboudit!