Same Time, Same Channel

Pathetically slow run.

5:12 am, 31°F, 76% humidity, no wind.

Last night my wonderful 14-year-old son came up to me and said he had a deal for me. If I would run, he would run with me. We've talked about running together before, but he was  never willing to do it at dark-thirty in the morning. So I asked if he would get up at 5:00 and run for about a half an hour so that he could be home in time to take a shower and get to seminary at 6:30 and he said yes, and so that's what we did this morning.

We both got up at 5:00 and were out the door at 5:12, which is nearly a record for me in terms of time from waking to out the door. We ran 3 miles in the dark and I was sucking wind the whole time. He commented on how hard I was breathing. I've gained a lot of weight in the past year and I haven't run in nearly two months and I'm terribly out of shape. But I did manage to run the whole way without stopping, so I guess that's something. He can run a lot faster than I can, but he's not used to the distance, so it worked out okay. When we had about 4 house lengths to go, I started running faster and so then he started running faster and his faster running was way faster than mine.

I'm a little worried because he says his knees hurt when he runs and I don't know what to tell him.

We're going to try to do this again on Thursday.

AP: 10:46. Splits: 10:18, 11:12, 10:52, 0.03 (my little spurt at the end) @ 9:28.

Pathetically slow run.

5:11 am, 30°F, 35% humidity, wind 5 SW.

I ran with Sam again. We started slower today than we did on Tuesday, but the average pace was just slightly faster. I really do better if I start slow.

We ran the same route that we ran on Tuesday, but in reverse. That meant that we had to finish with the hill sprint hill. I didn't sprint up it, but I did try to push the pace a little. We had about 1/10th of mile to go after we got to the top of the hill and Sam took off and ran home really fast, but I slowed down and stopped and walked as soon as I hit 3 miles because I felt like I was going to throw up. That's how pathetic I am. Running up that stupid hill sprint hill at about a 9:30 pace made me sick to my stomach. Also, I've been sore from Tuesday's dinky little run. I am so so out of shape.

I've got to take Sam and buy him some real running shoes this weekend. Maybe that will help with his knee pain.

He was moaning and complaining of a cramp  near the end of our run, just before we got to the hill sprint hill, but he wouldn't stop, and then he blasted up the hill and home. Oh to be 14 years old and full of energy.

AP: 10:41. Splits: 11:02, 10:54, 10:10.

A every so slightly faster run.

5:13 am, 36°F, 42% humidity, winds calm.

I ran with Sam again this morning. I took him to a running store and they did the gait analysis and everything and I bought him new shoes on Saturday. But he still had knee pain when we ran this morning. After the run and after his shower, I put KT tape on his knees. We'll see if that helps. He wore shorts to school (crazy teenage boy) and I noticed that he pulled his shorts down a little lower than usual to hide the bright green tape on his knees. As he got out of the car for seminar this morning, I told him to pull up his pants, but I doubt that he did.

We ran just a little bit faster today than we did last week. At least we didn't have any mile slower than 11:00 today. I think Sam is getting a little tired of my slow pace. He left me with a little less than 1/4 mile today and ran home ahead of me.

Despite our slow pace, it was not easy for me. I was breathing in 2 breaths and out 1 the whole time, which shows that I was working hard. I am just so fat and out of shape. I've got to get my diet under control somehow.

I just signed both of us up for the Turkey Day 5K. Last year I beat Sam on a Thanksgiving Day 5K by several minutes. He will undoubtedly beat me this year.

AP: 10:34. Splits: 10:43, 10:44, 10:18, 0.04 @ 9:41. (I included that 0.04 at the end just to show that I sped up a little at the end. Also, that last bit is uphill.)

Slow slog.

5:14 am, 23°F, 50% humidity, winds calm.

Sam and I started out on our normal route, but we hadn't gotten very far when Sam said he wanted to run on the track to change things up. So we took a small detour from our normal route and went to the middle school track. We had gone a half mile when we got to the track, so we decided to run 8 laps and then run home to get our 3 miles. We ran together for about a half a lap and then he decided to speed up and see if he could lap me. When he finished his 5th lap, he decided that he wouldn't be able to lap me, so he stopped and waited for me to finish my 5th lap (I was about a half a lap behind him when he stopped). Then he ran the remaining 3 laps and part of the way home with me. We had to go up the hill sprint hill to get home and when we got to the bottom of the hill sprint hill he left me and ran home faster than I did.

I've registered both of us for the Turkey Day 5K and he's going to beat me easily this year.

I did run a little faster today than I have recently.

AP: 10:07. Splits: 10:11, 9:51, 10:17, 0.04 @ 10:24.

Another slow slog.

5:16 am, 39°F, 48% humidity, wind 6 SW.

We got out the door a couple of minutes later than usual this morning because I was slow getting ready. Even when we get out on time, Sam is rushed after the run and doesn't have time for breakfast. So we considered cutting the run short but then ultimately decided against it. In order to get home faster, Sam left me when we had about 0.6 miles to go and ran home ahead of me. Still he didn't have time for breakfast. I think that breakfast is important. Maybe we need to get up earlier. Or at least maybe I do since I'm the slow one in the morning. Ugh.

I sped up at the end even though I couldn't keep up with Sam.

AP: 10:31. Splits: 10:51, 10:50, 9:55, 0.04 @ 8:54.

I blew it.

I was so worked up about trying to cook a fancier Thanksgiving dinner than usual that I got mixed up about the race time. I was thinking about what time I would get home from the race in order to start cooking and got that mixed up with the start time of the race. So we go to the race at what I thought was 1/2 hour before it was starting, but was in fact 1/2 hour after it started, so we turned around and went back home.

I dropped Sam at a park near our house so that he could play football with his buddies, and then I went home and then headed out on a run since I was dressed for running and the weather was nice. At about half way through my run I was nearing the park where I had left Sam and I saw my husband driving in to the park to pick Sam up. I thought about taking a little detour in to the park, but then decided against it and kept going. I thought maybe that on the way home Sam would see my running and get out and run with me. Sure enough, that's what happened. I saw my husband pass my again after he had left the park and noticed that Sam was not in the car with him. A minute later, Sam caught up with me and we ran home together. He complained that I was going really slowly and he could almost walk as fast as I was running. We ran until I got to 3.1 miles so that I could call it 5K, and then we walked home about a half mile.

Then I spent all day cooking and things didn't turn out as well as I hoped they would. I think this was the second time in my life that I tried to make rolls from scratch. And they didn't rise. And the turkey was dry. I forgot to cook the sweet potatoes and the corn. The gravy was okay, but not as good as I'd hoped. I was kind of discouraged about the whole thing. But then we took the left overs up to college boy who had stayed on campus to work over the holiday. He was glad for the leftovers. We hung out and played games with him for a couple of hours.

I was really discouraged about the rolls, so I made them again the next day and figured out my problem and this time they rose and turned out right. Then with some new-found confidence, I used a very similar recipe and made cinnamon rolls on Saturday night and took them to choir practice on Sunday. The choir loved them. So now I know how to make rolls. It's all thanks to The Pioneer Woman. Her website was the source of the recipes that I used.

So here are the stats for my pathetic little run:

9:30 am, 55°F, 16% humidity, wind 6 SW.

AP: 10:19. Splits: 10:31, 10:32, 10:00, 0.1 @ 9:16.

Progression run of sorts.

5:37 am, 28°F, 61% humidity, winds calm.

Sam decided that he need to practice the cello rather than running this morning. So I got him up a few minutes after 5:00 to practice and then I went back to bed for a few minutes, and then finally dragged myself out to run.

I wore my Garmin but didn't look at it the whole time. I felt like I sped up over the course of the run, but that's not hard to do when you start as freakishly slow as I did. I really do better over all when I take the first mile or so really slow.

AP: 10:34. Splits: 11:04, 10:47, 9:55, 0.03 @ 8:08 (note that this last bit is uphill).