I slept the thirty minutes. The alarm went off at 5:30. Dang....it was still way dark out there! But I knew I had to do it. I want change in my life.....and that means I need to enact the change!
So why in the world was I contemplating running at 5 o'crazy clock in the morning????
Jason and I have talked about running. He has known that I run from almost the first day that we talked. He had known I struggle with consistency in my runs. He has from that very first day expressed interest in running. He actually was dabbling in starting to run again after many years of not running. We met...and obviously things went well....and well running took a back seat in his life and due to a sprained ankle and some blisters and some cold weather it took a back burner in my life as well.
A month or so ago we discussed running and he actually challenged me to attempt the JFK 50 miler in a year or so (properly trained of course). I told him yeah sure....but let's get a half marathon and a full marathon under our belts before we head for some crazy 50 mile dealio. We agreed but neither of us started to run. Running came up in the conversation a few times but we still didn't start running.
Until......
About two weeks ago one of us came up with the running challenge. Basically right now the person that puts in the most miles each week is the winner. Plain and simple! There will be rewards...nothing big. Hahaha. Simply things that we already give each other. (Come on now...use your imagination!!)
The smack talk started almost immediately! Oh yeah.. Big time smack talk!
Last week we started....I planned to run my first run on Tuesday. (I actually did a run or two the week before to get myself limbered up for this challenge!!). I wasn't worried though. He hadn't run in years!!! The first couple weeks should be a breeze for me! (I also know as a guy he would soon be faster and able to run further and I would really struggle to hang with him in terms of miles and speed!).
On Monday mapmyfitness dinged to notify me of Jason's first run. I eagerly looked at my phone and immediately dropped the phone in shock! What???? He ran 2.46 miles on his first run?????? At a pace of 11:26? The pace blew me away. He was ALREADY faster than me! !!!! And what was worse? He was 2.46 miles ahead of me in this challenge!!!!A good sport, I told him how impressed I was! (Ok and maybe I encouraged him because I love the guy too!)
No worries I woke up on Tuesday and I ran. I ran 4.17 miles. Take that!!!! Yeah baby! I had this in the bag!!!! No way was 'the newbie' gonna steal my glory on this first week!!!!
And then on Wednesday I figured out exactly how competitive he really is. (I only had an inkling before!). That boy ran 5.22 miles at average pace of 11:02! My jaw dropped!
Now in case you can't do the math...that put him up....way up on me!! 3.51 miles up!
Yup....on Thursday I knocked out a 6.19 miler! And yes...that was enough for the win. He had to take a wee little break because he came on too much too soon! I collected my prize and I didn't gloat too much, he was sore ya know!!! Plus, I know he is gonna wipe the floor with me SOON!!
So the new week started. He has backed off his miles a bit for his health and safety. So yesterday he knocked out 2.02 miles (average pace of 10:51).....
And that brings me to 5:30 this morning. I had to leave the house by 7 to go to work....(Monday through Wednesday of this week) and I have things going on in the evening.....when does a person run???? 5 apparently is a bit too dark. 5:45 works! (I had my clothes for work laid or and my lunch packed so that I would be able to push the run as late as possible!).
It wasn't bad.....my running path was empty! There were less cars. If I can drag myself out of bed his may work!
2.29 miles on my legs by 6:15! Weeee!
Probably Not enough for the win this week (since it's so early). but at least I'm hanging and not falling horribly behind!!!! And right now I'm a quarter mile ahead! Ahh yes, I will bask in that moment of being ahead for just a few minutes, hours, or days until he knocks me back off my pedestal!
So competitive running....might help with the consistency!!!
Even with the running we are still hiking and walking. We still went out and got a three mile walk in on the canal last night!!! And if the weather holds we will probably knock off a few miles tonight also!!! (I'm very lucky in that many of our dates and hours together involve physical activity in the form of hikes and walks and hopefully soon bike riding also!!!).