Flibbertigibbet

On the Road Again

After breaking the 2 hour barrier on the half marathon in Atlanta in November, I stopped running. The reason being that I find it very difficult to eat enough to both run and gain weight.

Well, I've started gaining weight. I think I'm at about 185 lbs right now. Standing at 6'2" that's still a little lighter than what I'd like to be (I'm aiming for 190.) and I don't care what the stupid BMI chart says.

Anyway, I've been weight training and trying to eat good, clean protien and all that stuff and I've gained a little wieght.

Now I want to tone up a bit, so on Thursday I went for a run in Central Park.

I have no idea how far I ran on Thursday because I am of the mind that when starting to run it's best to just get out there and go before you start measuring things. If you try to start without a sense of your own limits, you'll try to set goals that are either too grand or too short. So, for me, I get started by just going out and doing it; I figure running a little ways is better than runnning no way at all.

So, I ran a lot and walked some. I was out there for about 45 minutes, which was about 15 minutes longer than I really wanted to spend. It wasn't a great run, but it was a run. After looking at a map of Central Park, I realized that I probably covered almost 5 miles worth of ground.

That seemed like a bit much to me since I hadn't run since November.

Tonight, I went for another run, but this time I planned a route for which the distance was known. From Columbus Circle around to the 72nd St. Transverse and back down to the Circle, it's a little more than 1.7 miles.

I did two laps in 29:45.

I am VERY impressed with myself.

Although my endurance is far short of what it was in November, that pace is faster than what my half marathon pace was. Back then, I ran 13.2 miles at about 9 minutes a mile. Today, I ran at an 8:45 mile pace.

I also managed to do it without stopping. (For some reason the two mile mark is a psychological barrier to me and I find that I always want to walk right then.)

So, I'm kind of tickled that I'm not as out of running shape as I thought. I have a long way to go before I could consider doing another half marathon, but I don't feel like I'm starting over from scratch.

Which reminds me: I need to get a new pair of running shoes.