Speedy

I did speed work today. On a track. Like a real runner. And I got up at 7:00 AM on a Saturday to do it.

I walked a lap and then ran a timed lap at my normal pace to see how fast I run. It was about what I expected. I was doing about a 13 minute mile. Told you I was slow! I would like to get to a 10 minute mile as my first mini-goal. So I walked another lap and then started running faster. I cut 45 seconds off my lap time so that was a 10 minute mile pace. I don’t think at this point I could maintain that for more than a quarter mile. I started walking a lap again and was fully recovered by the time I was 1/4 way around the track. When I got back to the start, I ran another 10 minute pace lap. It was hard for me to do but I kept telling myself that I was going to be really mad if I stopped and promising myself that if I did it I could stop. I walked another cool down lap and went home.

I told the SO what I had done and he was interested in going to the track too. I so went back with him and walked while he did his workout. I walked another 2 miles. I’m glad he wasn’t there for the speed workouts. I’m not ready for that yet. I’m embarrassed by how slow I am and he was a former fast, long distance runner before the army broke him. He’s trying to learn to run again and I could keep up with him right now but I don’t know if that’s a good idea. My dad is threatening to run with me sometime. In my last conversation with him he was talking about slowing down his first race mile to 9 minutes so he has the stamina to finish with consistent 8 minute miles instead of going out fast and running out of steam. I don’t think we are running-compatible yet.

There was a guy there running who was slower than me. That was good for me to see. I read Runner’s World and read the blogs of fast runners so I think that everyone is super speedy. I need to realize that that’s not true.

Afterwards we had to make amends to Freckles. We went out walking, TWICE, without her. We took her to the waterfall trail we found. I hoisted her up on the rocks by the falls. She was horrified. I took her leash off so she wouldn’t get tangled and that convinced her that we were planning on running off without her. We ended up walking down a trail to the river. It is a nice area where kayakers can come ashore and walk up to see the falls. She refused to go in the river either. Eventually she decided that she could drink it but she wasn’t going in. She fell in once up to her elbows and was unimpressed.

We went back up the trail to the falls and by this time I think she had gained some trust in us. When the SO went up on the falls she followed him.

She decided that hanging out by the base of the falls on the cool wet rocks wasn’t so bad afterall.