Day Three

Today was day three of half marathon training. This morning I was feeling good after yesterday's 8K, but as the day went on and I was sedentary at work, my legs started to cramp up by about 2:00. Uhoh. Tonight I needed to run 5K and let me tell you, by the time I got home from work and had a little rest (the rest is ALWAYS a bad idea) I had basically convinced myself that nobody would know if I skipped the run.

Then I started feeling guilty. Yes, I have high standards for myself. My self-guilt would eat me alive. I committed to the training run, and I can't wimp out on the third day - and only the second day of running!

So I made myself some dinner, planned my route, and watched some How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men before promising myself I would leave the house at 7:30.

So where did I run tonight? I decided I wanted to try something different. Victoria has lots of beautiful areas, and despite living here since September I really haven't done much exploring. So I made a choice. I would start at "Mile Zero" of the Trans-Canada Highway, head past Ogden Point, then wind my way around the waterfront (or as close to the water as I could get), pass the legislature buildings, then come back along Government Street before heading back to my parking spot.

The run was solid. Again I walked lots, but unlike my first 5K, at the end of this I didn't feel like dying. Improvement!

So how did this run "stack up?" Well, I actually went 5.3K according to Google Earth. The whole journey took me until the end of "Dog Days Are Over" so by my very official timepiece I am guessing that the trip took me about 36 minutes. That gives me a pace of approximately 6.8min/km. Quite a bit better than my 8K yesterday, but still a long way to go if I want to get my 10K in under an hour.

If you notice, my return route does a bit of a radical jog. Why, you might ask? Emergency vehicles. Ambulance, fire truck, lights, sirens, the whole thing. So while I initially planned on running further down Government before heading over to Douglas, I decided to avoid the chaos.

Last thing: I have decided my next purchase needs to be socks. The ones I'm running in are not really cutting it. The balls of my feet are starting to get sore right under my big toe on both feet. I wonder if that tells me more that something is up with my stride or that I really should do laundry and stop wearing my old, terrible socks...