First Non-treadmill, Non-track Run

So my last entry was going longer than I initially thought and I still had more I wanted to update you on so I posted what I had, took a meal break to replenish my energy and now I am back. One thing about Sunday's track workout I forgot to mention is that that was my first non-treadmill workout. With all my traveling I had been doing the treadmill was really the best option I had prior to Sunday because of my work schedule and locations.

Now, I am currently amidst a fourteen week training plan leading me up to my first race, the Oklahoma City Memorial Half-Marathon. This past Sunday I spoke of completed my Week 3 training. Moving forward into Week 4, on Tuesday this week I did my first non-treadmill, non-track workout. Using GARMIN I navigated my way around a convenient 5k loop right here from home. For this run/walk I adorned my new ASICS, along with the Injinji socks for the first time. The socks were weird upon first putting them on, however, once my feet were inside my running shoes I could not tell a difference between the Injinjis and my normal socks other than my feet did feel cooler during the run. Through the first mile and a half to two miles I could feel the tiredness build in my shins. Yet I kept going. It was not a tiredness feeling like shin splints, it was more just the building up of the lactic acid I would say. Then, like someone turned on a light switch, the tiredness was gone and I felt like I could run/walk forever. During the run/walk I mixed up the pace with a series of runs, mostly about four utility poles at a time. Some of the runs were the length of the parking lots I would pass, some I would run the four telephone poles and find I was feeling good and had a good stride going so I continued another pole or two. This was a run that covered numerous surfaces: asphalt, concrete (the worst), and some roadside dirt. When possible I would not run/walk on the sidewalk but rather along the sidewalk on the grass. Now I only did this when it appeared to be pretty smooth and not slanted to one side or the other. I also kept a close eye out for any holes, as I did not want to experience a busted ankle like my cousin did last fall. At the conclusion of my run I had covered 3.31 miles, this including my cooldown walk. My 5k time was 45:15. I was excited to see the time had improved. Perhaps the weather had something to do with it. The starting temperature of the run was 32 degrees and it had warmed up to 36 by the time I got back inside, and the start of the run was about noon here in Oklahoma.

With the cold temperatures you would think I would have used that as an excuse to either not run or use the treadmill in the fitness room. Nope, I got out there and did it. I first felt the cold for about two or three minutes, but once I really got moving the blood got pumping and I was warm, not feeling the cold until I began the slower pace of my cooldown distance. At the end I had an exhilirated feeling having just gone three plus miles, in the cold. It was great.