Got my motor running....
Well, I finally ran a road race....5K Run/Walk with my office in support of Kaiser Permanente. First, I gotta say that KP puts on a great event....sponsors, tents, power-bars, bananas, music, volunteers and a show ending fireworks display. It was a wonderful experience.
Now, I have to first admit, I am not a runner. I signed on for this gig about 6 weeks ago fully intending to train properly for the run. Looking back, it sure would have been smart to do so. But what I did instead was let all the other important things in life take priority. The last three weeks have been more about sick kids and worrying about them than anything else. This is where my wife gets huge credit. When my 11 year old had a nasty flair up of his asthma with a cold on top (check out "The responsible one" blog), he would often wake up in the middle of the night (and usually two or three times on average) and Kath would be there quick as a flash. I however would wake up to see Kath heading to his room and might only make one of the visits myself to check on Ryan or set him up with a nebulizer treatment, but each and every time Kath was there. I was often in a comatose state of rest. Whether I just felt everything would be all right or I still have residual flashbacks of letting the kids "cry it out" when they were babies, I do not know. If things were really bad for Ryan and his coughing, he would come get us...those moments I always responded to.
I have gotten off track a bit, but this was to basically explain that with the late night asthma attacks we had not gotten a solid nights rest in a couple of weeks. More importantly, I have been down-right lazy spending more time at the laptop that on the elliptical which I am reminded occassionally by my wife that I "had to have" but only used about 5 times in 5 months. Heck, I could have even gone for a walk or a jog around the neighborhood (how novel and idea)....
Well, once the aches from the past race wane, I will take up the gauntlet once again to exercise on a regular basis. So what has been my work-out routine to prepare for the race....maybe twice a week I would do push-ups and sit-ups and some light free-weights. Other than that it has been the brief walk to the office from the Marta Rail station and then taking the stairs each day to the fourth floor and ignoring the elevator...and I am weighted down by a laptop...so that counts for something.
So where did this get me in the race? Well, I am proud to say that I at least ran the first half of the race (some slight down hill, most of it flat) and then on the way back I ran about half of it for a grand total of about 4K running and 1K walking. My time was approximately 34 minutes....close to a 10 minute mile. Now I have a benchmark to beat at the next event I attend. What I have realized from this is that the muscles seem to tighten up more two days after the event then the day after. I think with the recent gas shortage in my area that I will take the wife on a coffee date and we will walk to the neighborhood Starbucks....maybe even take the dog.
Now, I have to first admit, I am not a runner. I signed on for this gig about 6 weeks ago fully intending to train properly for the run. Looking back, it sure would have been smart to do so. But what I did instead was let all the other important things in life take priority. The last three weeks have been more about sick kids and worrying about them than anything else. This is where my wife gets huge credit. When my 11 year old had a nasty flair up of his asthma with a cold on top (check out "The responsible one" blog), he would often wake up in the middle of the night (and usually two or three times on average) and Kath would be there quick as a flash. I however would wake up to see Kath heading to his room and might only make one of the visits myself to check on Ryan or set him up with a nebulizer treatment, but each and every time Kath was there. I was often in a comatose state of rest. Whether I just felt everything would be all right or I still have residual flashbacks of letting the kids "cry it out" when they were babies, I do not know. If things were really bad for Ryan and his coughing, he would come get us...those moments I always responded to.
I have gotten off track a bit, but this was to basically explain that with the late night asthma attacks we had not gotten a solid nights rest in a couple of weeks. More importantly, I have been down-right lazy spending more time at the laptop that on the elliptical which I am reminded occassionally by my wife that I "had to have" but only used about 5 times in 5 months. Heck, I could have even gone for a walk or a jog around the neighborhood (how novel and idea)....
Well, once the aches from the past race wane, I will take up the gauntlet once again to exercise on a regular basis. So what has been my work-out routine to prepare for the race....maybe twice a week I would do push-ups and sit-ups and some light free-weights. Other than that it has been the brief walk to the office from the Marta Rail station and then taking the stairs each day to the fourth floor and ignoring the elevator...and I am weighted down by a laptop...so that counts for something.
So where did this get me in the race? Well, I am proud to say that I at least ran the first half of the race (some slight down hill, most of it flat) and then on the way back I ran about half of it for a grand total of about 4K running and 1K walking. My time was approximately 34 minutes....close to a 10 minute mile. Now I have a benchmark to beat at the next event I attend. What I have realized from this is that the muscles seem to tighten up more two days after the event then the day after. I think with the recent gas shortage in my area that I will take the wife on a coffee date and we will walk to the neighborhood Starbucks....maybe even take the dog.
Comments
I am seriously thinking of attempting the Roswell 5k on Oct 11th...we'll see.