Thursday, January 5, 2012

Mesley Half Mile

Ahhh yes the New Year is here! Both the gym and my favorite park is packed with people. Let me set the scene for you at my favorite 3 mile loop yesterday. It's a cool sunny day in Houston, ideal for running. The park is alive with runners of every form.

The true runners who lap you 10 times it takes you to get around once. Who wear compression...everything from socks to shorts to headband, who wear water belts that are packed with GU...

ok that's an over exaggeration

Also making their way around the loop are the "Rezers", New Years Resolution people, those who pull out old shoes that haven't been worn in about 10 years. That's run is closer to a walk than a run, but hey they are out there moving! They find those old pair of running shorts that are more suited for the pool than a jog...

Eek!


Among both extremes was me. Someone who would love to just finish a race, would like to lose a few lbs, but is more prepared than some runners. However, whether you are at either extremes or middle of the road I think all runners have days like I had yesterday. 

The plan for the day was a "long" run. Which in the beginning stages means 5 min walk, 5 min run (about half mile), 5 min walk. Not too scary. Going into the run I knew it might not be as good a run as it could be. By the time I had pulled up to the park at 10am I was so exhausted that I already in want of a nap. 

Despite this off I went...and oh my! I've run some loooooong runs before. The longest I think was 6 miles. That mesley little half mile felt like FOR-EV-ER!


My chest had that "I'm not ready for this," feeling; I can't think of any other way to describe it. The killer was my quads. They just wanted to give out on my the whole time, they lacked any sort of energy. I thought to myself "You want to run a half someday and are struggling with 5 minutes!?!" However, I reminded myself, "If you don't finish today you will give up altogether. Just keep going." I zoned in one the music that was playing and just putting one foot in front of the other. Finally I heard the magic words "Blue zone 5 minutes." I could have cried...ok that really is an exaggeration. 

In the end I was proud of my mesley half mile run. It's half a mile more than I could have run a few months ago. It's a half mile closer to my goal. It's a half mile closer to me being a real runner. It was a physical and mental wall that had to be broken through. 

It's been a long week, 40 hours in 4 days but after today I'm done for the week which means sleeeeep! So here is to hoping that I'll be nice and rested up for tomorrow's run. 

What is your mesley half mile run?

Till then,
Belle

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