I made it!

I finally ran around the whole UP oval non-stop and pain free. I was mighty proud of myself I just had to tweet it after my run.

My first attempt at running was not so nice. Yeah, I finished running the whole round but it didn’t feel good. I was panting so hard and my lungs felt like they were gonna explode. Not to mention the headache and the exhaustion I felt after. For a moment, I even thought that would be my first and last run.

This time, I know I must have done something right with the breathing and the posture because I never reached the verge of exploding. I even went for a second round!

If I pushed myself harder maybe I could even have finished a third. But I’m taking things easy. I remembered this lesson I picked up days ago from my yoga workouts, push yourself to the point of discomfort but stop before the point of pain.

I was hovering between those two points so I think I did good.

Other than that, I applied some lessons I learned from my first run:

Wear comfortable clothes. Hubby lent me one of his singlets and I paired it with my cycling shorts. I felt really light and I wasn’t conscious about anything showing so I could just concentrate on running.

Relax and breathe. I focused on relaxing my neck and my arms and I tightened my core instead. I also focused on exhaling as much as air as I inhaled. I think the first time I was inhaling too much but exhaling too little that’s why my lungs felt like exploding.

Plug in the Ipod. I must say, having my girluscious playlist banging in my ear did a lot to pump me up and to keep me moving. There’s something about Destiny’s Child songs that makes me envision sexy abs which pushes me to run more and run faster.

One thing I also found worked for me was closing my eyes while running every now and then. I could focus more on my breathing and my stride when I closed my eyes because I wasn’t distracted by other runners or by the track. See when I have my eyes on the track, I keep having this mental chatter, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

If I could, I would close my eyes the whole way and just feel the wind carrying me. But that won’t really be the safest thing to do so I just do it in bursts.

It’s a good thing Kernan encouraged me to go for another round, I was able to exert myself a bit more. He’s been asking me if I want to register for the Nature Valley run and I’m still thinking it over. I know I said I wanted to but I need to practice more if I want to make it good. Besides he won’t be there alongside me to encourage me when I slow down or feel tired so I’m feeling a little apprehensive. He’s like my Gatorade and I can’t run (yet) without it.

He already registered for the Nature Valley run and it’ll be his first 21k. He’s been practicing really hard and I think he’ll do great. Although he did mention, he might need some “help.” (He still has some leftover hydroxycut supplements from last year.) I (strongly) advised him not to take them anymore since I think the strength he’s been building up from his practice and gym workouts would be enough.

I’ve got another week to think about joining before registration ends next weekend. But even if I don’t join, I’d still go running.

I actually lost an inch from my waistline after my run. Anything that works that fast sounds really good to me.

Run! Run! Run!

Tagged as: running