10K Run

Long time no blog! Hope my 2 or 3 readers haven't been lonely without me. A lot of "stuff" has been keeping me busy lately. One of those "stuffs" is preparing for a 10K run that I was insane enough to sign up for.

Now a 10K is only a little more than 6 miles, so it isn't really that bad...the problem is I am still pretty fat and out of shape. I've made a lot of progress over the last year, losing some weight and getting into better shape, but this has been a good wake-up call for me that I am still a ways from where I want/need to be. I thought I was doing good...I had been doing a good hour on the cardio machines at the gym without much difficulty...that sounds good, but my frequency had dropped to twice a week, 3 times tops. I definitely wasn't ready for how hard even 2 miles of actual running would be. I wasn't close to throwing up or anything like that, but I was definitely in the "what the bleep am I doing" zone.

This run is also a trail run. "Trail run" sounds nice. Dirt paths, nature, birds singing, blah, blah, blah. What "trail run" really means is: running up hills that are so steep you can't actually run...you have to walk! It means running along trails so narrow you can barely stay on the path...and if you trip or fall, you'll probably roll down the hill and die. It means "watching out" for mountain lions. (Good luck trying to outrun a mountain lion after climbing one of these hills!) It means "watching out" for rattlesnakes. And don't even get me started on the ticks! We are running through brush and trees that are prime tick country. I can tell you for a fact that I would much rather deal with a mountain lion or rattlesnake than to have to pick a tick off of my neck!

I figure I am totally screwed if we are attacked by a predator. In nature, they single out the slow, weak members of the herd...you might as well paint a bullseye on my back.

All that being said, I am enjoying the experience. I feel stronger each week and feel like I am doing better each week also. I recognize that I had hit a rut in my workout regimen, and wasn't pushing myself enough. I should probably think about backing off and joining the 5K group for this run, but I'll stick with the 10K as long as I can.