Friday, August 26, 2011

Gaining More Confidence Daily

After a rough night of trying to get back to sleep at 2:45 AM, and almost chalking up the day to another rest day, due to lack of enough sleep, I mentally jump started myself and made the commitment to get some kind of a run in. I had already missed the last two days due to tweaking my knee on a ladder while painting my house. Besides, I got a few winks on the couch before Chris got up.

At first, I was just going to run three or four miles in order to document some kind of run, but after putting on my running shorts and shoes, I felt okay and somewhat rested. Since I hadn't really ran any further than 5 miles since my knee surgery, I decided today was a good day to test the knee with some kind of a distance run. I usually don't wear my Ipod when running, but decided to enjoy a little music as company. My initial problem was finding the right music to run with. I needed something between "Wipe out" and "Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony" so I settled on "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head." A nice pace indeed.

I walked the first half mile and followed up with a solid 8 mile run averaging 11:28 per mile. Yes, I know that's pretty darn slow, but you should see the route I took. BTW, I walked after every mile for 30 seconds, so there! The knee never became an issue, but I couldn't help being conscious of it. I suppose I'll get over that concern as time passes.

All in all, I was pleased and gained more confidence that I'll be able to finish in Dallas. I'm absolutely not in the least concerned about my finish time. The time limit is 6 hours and 30 minutes and I can do that even if I walk half of it. Hey, I figured that out! If I ran a mile in ten minutes and walked a mile in 18 minutes that would put me at the finish line in 6 hours and 7 minutes!

Now it's time to get ready for the 45 mile ride this Sunday. From there I need to pick up the bike mileage in order to get through the Hilly Hundred in October..........Mike

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