Saturday, August 6, 2011

Diary of an overweight runner - Michelin Man


Another week of 5Kin100days down on the books. I'm actually looking forward to getting our schedule for next week.

Today's run was rough though. First, it started when I wore the wrong pants. Yes, I know it seems like a minor thing, but there are certain qualities to clothes that I like when I'm running and these pants didn't have them. Combined with the shirt I was wearing, I looked like the Michelin Man and people stared at me.

Now I know you think I'm just overreacting but no, really, I caught one woman giving me a dirty look (which I shot right back). I tried not to care, but it's hard to concentrate on your rhythm when you feel self-conscious.

Secondly, I could not slow down. I kept speeding out of the gate during each 7 minute interval unable to slow myself down. I'm not sure why I was in such a hurry today, but I felt it.

Also the hills killed me. Now that I'm doing much more running than walking, I had two hills to reckon with. One is a gradual incline and the other is the infamous Mount Crumpet. I took video of Mount Crumpet today, but if I posted it you would just get motion sickness.

What's important is that I kept going. Yes, I cut two of my intervals short and I walked 2-3 minutes in between them, but I didn't stop, I eventually picked myself up and finished running.

However, my run Thursday was good. I timed my running portion and I was able to run 2.85 miles in 41 minutes for a 14:23 min per mile pace. This was the first time since I started running that I thought, "Oh hey, maybe I'll be able to do this Disney half marathon afterall."

I'll start training the beginning of September - just 4 weeks away!

3 comments:

Emmie said...

wow em, 14:23 pace? NICE. And good for you for going on. While I'm SURE you didn't look like the Michelin Man, I completely know the feeling.

Big Life, Little Blog said...

@Emily Thanks! I know once I start increasing my distances my pace will go up, but as long as it's under a 16 min mile (the Disney race rules), I'll be happy.

Luanne said...

I'm also from Nashville and doing the Disney race and was wondering - are you training with a group in September?

Post a Comment