Saturday, February 18, 2012

Snot Rockets and 9 miles, Baby!!!

A farm we saw as we ran by.

I woke up at 6:30am, and got all ready to go. I ate my Clif Bar and drank some water. I decided to stop at the gas station and get a Diet Dr. Pepper. In hindsight, I should have woke up earlier to give myself the time needed to go to the bathroom. I stopped at the Quick Trip to go to the bathroom. Ended up that I still didn't need to go. So, I started back out to the car. Did you know that a wheelchair ramp still has a small curb? I didn't. I wasn't really paying attention and rolled my ankle, which popped, and I fell to the ground. I'm sure it was quite a sight. A man came out of the store to ask if I was ok. I was pretty embarrassed as I limped to the car. I tried to look at it, but with all the layers I couldn't really tell. I decided to drive over to the group and see how it felt to walk on it.
my swollen ankle. 

Walking to the group from the parking lot wasn't too bad. So, I decided to try it, and if I couldn't finish all 9, I would do what I could. We started out with Laurie telling us there would be hills today. I hate hills. The first 4 miles wasn't bad. Then we hit the first hill. I gasped my way to the top, and somehow managed to stay not only with the group, but a little bit ahead! I figured I would do my best to stay ahead so that the next hill I wouldn't be left in the dust.
I don't think this pic does this hill justice!
We went back down. The great thing about going up hills is coming down hills. I always feel gypped if I go up a hill and it only levels off. Especially if I don't have to go back the way I came. Luckily that was not the case. We went into a really nice neighborhood and freaked a cute little bulldog out. These were huge really expensive houses. They are nice to look at and dream, and keeps your mind off yet another hill!
I was trying really hard not to vomit in these really nice yards.

I ate half of a Clif Gel Block. They taste good, but I really feel nauseous when I try something that isn't liquid. I think I will stick with my G2 and water. I was feeling pretty good until mile 7. I was running with Sheila, and at some point managed to pause my runkeeper . Luckily she had her own Garmin to keep us on track. I don't think it was paused too long.
Around mile 5 or 6?
 At about mile 6 1/2 or so, I finally attempted a snot rocket, or farmer's blow as some people call them. I didn't do too bad. At least I didn't end up with snot all over my face. I even gave the people around me a warning. As I wiped my nose on the inside of my shirt collar (All you runners do this, don't deny it!), I realized I put my shirt on backwards this morning. Maybe nobody noticed.

Going back down another hill.
At about mile 7, I started having a harder time. At the eighth mile, I told Sheila to go ahead. I knew she was holding back for me. I told her to go on, and I'd be ok. Man, she was off like a shot! She went really fast! My ankle had started hurting just a little, and was starting to get blisters on the balls of both of my feet, and couldn't quite catch my breath. I finished by myself, and stretched out. I am tired, but extremely proud of myself! Even with the runkeeper messing up for a short time, my runkeeper says 9.06 miles, in 1:58:14. My average minutes per mile was 13:03. Not bad for my first ever 9 mile run!

6 comments:

  1. you did awesome! hope your ankle gets to feeling better.get bodyglide and rub it on the bottom of your feet it will help keep you from getting blisters on long runs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great time and way to stick it out for your first 9!!! Ditto on the glide - and also make sure you have wicking socks - not 100% cotton - I learned that lesson the hard way too with blisters on the bottom of my feet. Hope your ankle feels better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Jen! My socks are ua running socks not sure if they are cotton or not. They don't feel the same as reg socks, and no seams. I will definitely try the body glide for my longer runs!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Man, way to tuff it out! Outstanding job!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!!!