Ran today. Ran in the gym, since the weather has been so unpredictable. Was planning on running for 3 or 4 miles, and, well, my problems started when I didn’t decide, in advance, how many miles I would actually run. That lack of decisiveness hurt me from the very beginning.
I didn’t get to the gym until 5:30-ish, and all of the “good” treadmills were taken, so I had to start out on one of the sucky treadmills. I did my quarter-mile warmup and kept an eye on the “good” treadmills, and, sure enough, one of them opened up during my warmup.
But when I started my actual run, I couldn’t find my pace, and I couldn’t get my breathing to sync with my pace, leaving me short of breath. With the damp weather, and my profound lack of eating discipline in the past couple of days (I’ve been eating as though I’m on vacation… well, technically, I am on vacation) were both indications that I should have used my inhaler before the run. I didn’t, and I suffered.
By the time I hit 2 miles, I was still having trouble breathing in rhythm with my running, and I’d lowered my pace to what felt far too slow; I didn’t think I’d ever finish 4 miles. I’d just keep lowering the pace, further and further, and the virtual finish line would get further and further away, until I ended up dying of exhaustion before 4.0 ever appeared on the readout. I was running a version of Zeno’s Paradoxes.
Plus, my stomach, having been fed a bunch of crap over the past few days, was continuing its rebellion against running by producing lots of gas, which escaped noisily during my exercise. It was not pretty. So, I took a bathroom break. During the break I decided that, come hell or high water, I would go the full 4 miles, as punishment for… well, for not running so well. Hey, it made sense at the time.
But when I got back on the floor, all the “good” treadmills were taken again. I had to run on one of the “bad” treadmills. I hate that. After a little over a quarter-mile, though, one of the “good” ones opened up again, so I moved over there. As a bonus, since, in my mind, at least, I was incredibly smelly and stinky, there was no one on either side of me, subjected to my odor.
I finished the full 4 miles, but only by including the final quarter-mile of cool down in the total. Yeah, I cheated. It was not a good run.
Plus, my new Asics aggravated the blister on my right ankle that my new Adidas caused yesterday. My left blister was fine, if a bit sore, because I was smart and put some moleskin over it. But the one on the right hadn’t been bothering me, so I hadn’t covered it up. Bleah. At least I didn’t bleed too much on my new Asics. Other than the blisters, the shoes are working fine. I still prefer the Adidas for stability but the Asics feel fine on the soft treadmill.
Tomorrow I’m doing another 4 miles and I’m doing it all in one stretch; no more breaks in the middle. I’m putting my foot down (yeah, that’s a runner’s joke).