run

Week Nine, Day 3

Tuesday, September 9th, 2023

Raise your hand if you’ve been up since 5:20 this morning!

🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

That’s right, my ducks, your mother goose over here is on her second opening shift in a row, and honestly? I’m kind of digging it. Did I pass out last night at 9:47 while Colby and I were watching another riveting episode of Hoarders on YouTube? Absolutely. But the good thing about an opening shift is that it’s over at 2pm, and I kind of feel like I have most of my day left. So. I don’t know if they want me in this slot moving forward, but your girl would not mind. 

Today feels a little bittersweet. It’s the last day of the program before I enter into the free runs. There is a part of me that’s a little bummed that I never cracked the 3-mile marker, but there is a bigger part of me that is proud that I have made it to this, the final day. I’m going to keep my schedule the same moving forward and get in three free runs a week, and am actually toying with the idea of just doing this day in the program over and over again. If a 40-minute 5K is what I’m aiming for, then I will have a lot of practice in getting there. 

My leg muscles feel really tight today. We need to get antifatigue mats at the coffee shop, I might bring that up on our portal thing that we have. But, yeah, my quads are so tight. I did a squat to reach for some overnight oats today and I felt the muscles there literally whine inside of my leg. And the hips are still sore, but I am going to work on strengthening my “show ass” to make it an “ass-that-pulls-its-weight-and-contributes-with-the-show-still-in-tact.” Because if mid century modern furniture teaches us anything, it’s that we can have both form and function. For both chairs and my ass. 

Ok, so on a whim just now, I googled “How to break down a 5K”, because, you know how I said I’m kind of bummed I haven’t cracked the 3-mile marker yet, yeah, it’s actually really bothering me. And I don’t want to end without having hit it, but I don’t know if I even really can hit it today with how fatigued my legs feel. But, this was Google’s reply: 

1. Warm up with easy walking or running for 5-to minutes 
2. Run “strong” for 30 seconds to one minute
3. Then run “easy” for two to three minutes. 
4. Repeat strong or easy five to eight times, depending on your workout time. 
5. Cool down. 

So, it looks like my idea to skip the walking part at the top and the bottom is actually not the thing to do. I’m supposed to ease into it. And then out of it. I wonder if on the day I can do that from the train to the ferry, just so I can start running right away. I think that’s what I’m going to do today. Ok. You might consider this cheating. But this is my plan. I’m going to walk to my starting point and use that as my warmup. Then, once I’m at the warmup, I’m going to open the app and start the program. The program is going to tell me to warm up, but I’m just going to start in with the running. I won’t include the distance from our apartment to the starting point, even though that would absolutely put me over the 3-mile marker, easily, but I will honor the run and have it begin when I open the app. No additional miles. 

Oof. I knew writing this before I left was going to be risky because I’ve been sitting for about 10 minutes, and that was a MISTAKE. I feel my body slipping into wind-down mode after being up at 5:20 this morning for the second time in a row, did I not mention that? Yeah, I was up at 5:20 this morning. For the second time in a row. ::insert labored and sympathy-seeking sigh here:: Anyway. I’m going to do this run. And I’m going to try to hit at least 3 miles, and if that happens, there will be much celebrating. And if it doesn’t happen, guess what? There will still be much celebrating. Because I made it to week nine, day three. And that is something to be stupidly proud of. Oh yes, and there is thunder happening outside, and I am FEELING IT. Let’s do another lightening run, babyyyyyyyyy. Let’s fucking go. 

POST-RUN MORTUM

Time Running: 40 minutes 

Distance Achieved: 2.98 miles 

Tunage: Six

Y’all. I am so pleased with this run. I cannot even tell you how pleased I am with this run. I changed my course, because I’m allowed, and I just sort of ran in a random pattern. I did a loop in the sense that I started at the apartment and ended at the apartment, but I didn’t come back the exact same way, so it felt like a little adventure. 

I did run the warmup and the cool down, and I gotta say, I think it’s what helped me get so close to 3 miles. Am I bummed that I didn’t hit it? Ehh, a little. But I think that I can do this in 40 minutes. Maybe like, 41/42, but I believe in my heart of hearts that I can do this in under 45 minutes. 

The thing I loved about this run was how dropped into myself I was. I was so focused on my foot striking the pavement in the correct way and kept bringing myself back to my breath. And it didn’t hurt that Six is kind of an ideal running soundtrack. Like, the beats have an amazing flow to follow and I found myself pushing harder to keep with the rhythm. I don’t know that I’ll run to it for the 5K, but honestly? It might not be a bad idea? The flow of it is seriously amazing. I also felt myself sweating. Like, drips of sweat, and not because it’s hot. The rain cooled everything down so it’s not like I was sweating because of the sweltering heat index. I have been hydrating pretty regularly, and I feel like that sweat was a little reminder of like, hey your body is working as it should, and that feels like a victory in and of itself. 

I was also encouraged by no less than three separate people while on the run. And It felt really nice. I used to be so self-conscious of that, like, when anyone said something, even if it was encouraging, it meant that they could see me. But now, well, today at least, I’m like, yeah, I’m a big girl who’s running and I’m doing the best I can and, again today, I’m really proud of that. 

I don’t know, y’all, this has been such a rollercoaster and so much more has happened in these nine weeks than I ever anticipated. From the medication switch to the new jobs to some really incredible and potentially life-changing news, I am in such a different place than I was when I started this whole thing. And I’m not done, this is not me saying goodbye by any stretch of the imagination. Thought you could get rid of me that easy, think again bb!! I’m still going to document through the free runs, though I might just do one post a week, with one week where I do a few so I can get us all on the same timeline, so the lead-up to the 5K in October is happening in real-time. 

I’m going to crack that 3-mile marker before October 29th. As corgi as my witness, I am going to crack that mile marker. And when I do, it will be an amazing day. I think I have to treat it like a cat at a party, you know? Like, when you’re at a party or at someone’s house, and there’s a cat, but the cat is coy and elusive and if you want it too badly, if you want the cat’s attention too much, the cat will ignore you and shun you and judge you and force you to ask yourself to reflect on every life choice and decision that brought you to this low moment? That’s what this 3-mile marker is. It’s a fucking cat at a party. And I have to not want it so badly. Becuase it’s only when you don’t want the cat that the cat decides to curl up next to you and make little biscuits on your legs while you purr. 

So, yeah. From here on out, for these free runs, I’m just gonna be cool. Totally chill. I’ll do some light mingling, check in with the snack table, bop my head to whatever music is playing, and then settle on the couch and not give a fuck one way or the other if the cat wants to come and hang with me. Couldn’t care less. I’ll just leave my lap free and clear, just in case, not for the cat…because I don’t care. About the cat. Not at all.