May 10th, 2010 – 6.5 Mile Run

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

I knew today’s run was going to have to be a long one. I usually reserve the long-ish run for Wednesday, but I didn’t run all weekend and the run on Friday was only 3 miles. I was kind of excited about this one because I knew I was going to do it 4 minutes on and 1 minute off, so even if I really didn’t want to get out there, I knew I’d get a break after the first 4 minutes.

As usual, the first 4 minutes were atrocious. Strangely, the first step I took had a bit of a sting to it. Like I’d cracked my knuckles, only it was in my Achilles Tendon. I know I have AT issues, so I was going to take it easy.

I stopped after the first 4 minutes (at the half mile mark) and stretched. The dog was not into the program tonight. She kept crossing me and stopping and just acting strangely all around. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do the run – she always wants to run. You should see her when I pull my running shoes out of the closet – she was just unfocused. This makes the run more difficult for me because I have to concentrate more on making her behave.

Mile 1 was great. The weather was fine and there was no sense in focusing too hard on the run at this point because it wasn’t nearly over. So I let my mind wander to work, family and life in general.

In no time at all, I am at the halfway mark and I have to cross the major street, go under the freeway and start the homeward trek. Now, I left the office later than I wanted to so I am losing daylight and I still have to get home and cook dinner. The husband is only good for watching the children while I’m out. Cooking dinner is NOT his thing!

We’re at about mile 4 and it seems like Sarah’s endurance is waning. Hmm… I wonder what’s wrong. She’s hanging in there, though. Maybe she’s just as intent on getting back home as I am.

Around mile 5, I am really starting to feel that my Achilles Tendon is struggling to stay in the game. I’m going to have to do some research on support for the AT while on long runs. I wonder if an Ace Ankle Brace would help. I have also been looking at Merrell Women’s socks. They are supposed to be extra supportive too. The pain is not enough to make me stop running, but it’s enough to make me take notice. I am not interested in injury.

When I’m about 1 mile from home, I check my timer and see that one of my 4 minute segments is up and I am due for a walk, but I’m not about to break when I only have 1mile to go, so I kick it into gear and tell Sarah that we are in this thing together.

So we sprint home and make the 6.5 trip in record time. Problem is, it’s after 8pm and no body’s been fed yet. What to do, what to do!!!

Well, the boy is already asleep, so I think I’ll just let that go and give him an extra piece of toast in the morning. The girl is still awake. She’s hungry and she needs to have her hair done before she goes to bed. So I throw some croissants in the oven and she, Chris and I have Croissants with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese for dinner.

Ah well, we can eat healthy tomorrow. Good hustle, Sarah!