March 21st & 22nd, 2011 – 2.96 and 6.11 Mile Runs

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.”

These runs were great. The weather has been very crispy lately so arm warmers or long sleeves were in order. Nothing wrong with that!

I have a race this weekend. The Great Race of Agoura is on Saturday.

Here’s the thing: I really do feel like I am getting past the point where “Just Finish” is a reasonable goal for me. Especially with a 5k. But this is a 10k and while “just finish” may be on the safe side for me, the fact remains that I have never run the entire distance in an organized race. I’ve always run it 4 minutes on and 1 minute off.

I don’t want to injure myself, of course, but I don’t want to set my bar too low either. So I find myself wondering if “Just run the whole course” is a high enough goal. Should I also place a time goal on myself?

I’m thinking I should.

My personal best in the 10k is 1:16 so I don’t think “Run the whole course and finish in 1:15” is unreasonable. Of course, if I run the whole thing and finish slower than 1:16, I will be thoroughly bummed.

If I’m not mistaken, the race course is hilly and that would adjust my goals. Many months ago, my friend Lloyd told me he would run the course with me so I’d know it. He’s run it before and can complete a 10k in less than half an hour. So I’ll give you three guesses as to why I never took him up on his offer.

Well, it’s too late now. If the Lord spares my life and delays His coming, I will be laced up and freezing my butt off at the Start Line on Saturday morning, come what may.

Now, about the run:

March 21st, 2011 – 2.96 Mile Run: This run was good. It was the usual route but it was windy and c-c-cold!!!! Early spring in Southern California is crispy and rainy. This will soon give ‘way to stifling heat, so I am enjoying it while it lasts.

The pace on this run was good but with the slight decline, it wasn’t as challenging as I’d like. Still calling it a win, though.

March 22nd, 2011 – 6.11 Mile Run: I *really* didn’t want to do this run. It was cold and I ran the day before so I felt justified in skipping it. HOWEVER…

Either Chris or I have plans tomorrow and the next day and I never run the night before a race, so this would be the last time I would get a chance to run before the race.

So I set out, with the goal being: Take it easy and just run until it doesn’t feel good any more. I didn’t care so much about my pace and Chris was taking care of dinner so I didn’t have any serious time restraints, so I figured I’d just…. Run. Forrest Gump style, until I just didn’t want to any more.

When I got to the middle of town I figured, I’d better turn around and come back. Even though I didn’t have any serious time restraints, I do have a young family and a job to get to the next morning, so an hour and change was all I was willing to do.

It was getting dark, so I got to wear my new Clip-On Cap Lamp. I saw these on one of my favorite Deal-A-Day sites for $1 plus free shipping. I figured, for a buck, I’d get two. They take two of those 3V watch batteries that look like nickels.

They are better suited for up close, handy work like fixing something under your car, flipping a breaker switch or in my case, polishing my nails in the dark or reading in bed.

They lit the ground in front of me but only *really* well in almost complete darkness. The slightest bit of light was able to overpower it. When a car passed me, its headlights washed out my lamp light but didn’t provide enough light to illuminate my path, so it was kinda spooky at times.

Also, the cap lamps only lit a small space right in front of me. When I’m running after dark, I feel more secure when I can see several feet ahead of me. Once a cyclist passed me but I didn’t realize he was there until he was right on top of me and that’s dangerous cuz I’ve got a really itchy pepper spraying trigger finger after dark.

All-in-all though, it wasn’t a bad purchase for a dollar. I wish I’d bought more. I’ll still use it. If nothing else, it makes it so that other runners and drivers can see me at night. Jordan is about to get a new bike for his birthday….. Shhhh. I wouldn’t be opposed to clipping a set on his helmet when he’s pacing me after dark.