I’m learning a lot about running.
- When I’m warming up, it’s hard to run an 11-minute mile. After 5 miles of running, a 9-minute mile is easy.
- Got to an intersection at the 7-11 this morning at the tail end of my run (6 miles) and did a car check. OK, that truck is stopped for me, that one is stopped, sees me. No one behind me. OK, I’m good. But I didn’t anticipate Speedy Gonzales pulling out of the 7-11 behind the guy in front of me who ended up doing this tricky little maneuver heading right to me about 20 yards away, not showing signs of stopping. So running through an intersection is like babysitting 5 kids: I have to do a check of all of them all the time to make sure no one’s missing – and I have to remember 5 becomes 6 or 7 in an instant.
- Running in the agricultural area at 5:30am is tricky business. I had a flashlight this morning, but, dang, I was all alone on a country road in the dead of darkness with no cars around. And suddenly, in this middle of nowhere with just the dark and the expanse of fields, I smelled cigar smoke. Holy crap my warm up became a fast one. Now I know I’m probably just as safe running by a field as I am running by rows of suburban houses, but it felt creepy enough smelling that whiff of someone’s presence to have me avoid it next time.
- Ran a second 5k last weekend and beat my personal record at 29:46. Here I am listed on the Wine Country Half Marathon and 5K - 9th place in my age category. I ROCKED. My first 5K I started in the front and it was a small group, so it was such a bummer watching everyone pass me, including a runner with a stroller and an 11-year-old. This time I was in better shape and I started in the back. It was a bigger race, so I had the pleasure of passing so many people… just passing, passing, passing with my Vibram FiveFingers. It was awesome, my ego and me on a date.
- I’m hooked. This running thing. I get it.
“Tears streamed down my face as I crossed the finish line. I was a new person, a runner.” – Thomas King