First timed run!

This past week I did some light running, stairs and strength training (like push-ups, sit-ups and "pull-ups"... which mostly consisted of hanging pathetically from the bar). The running distances were mostly ~1.4 miles with a break for stretching. I didn't have a stopwatch, and since it's still pretty cold out and the iPod screen doesn't like responding to cotton-enshrouded fingers, I just ran them without paying attention to pace.

Today, though, started with the purchase of a crappy bright blue stopwatch from Kmart which nixed my excuses for not timing myself. Adam hadn't been doing any kind of running, just sit-ups and push-ups on the stability ball and shaming me on the pull-up bar. We went out at 2:40pm; it was about 35 degrees, so definitely long-sleeved shirts, zippy coats and gloves. Adam opted for the 180's, too (the around-the-back-of-the-head ear muff things). I was listening to a mix of Hilltop Hoods and Adam had on the David Guetta Pandora station.

We ran to the East 85th street entrance of Central Park and stretched at the 90th Street entrance. We started the time there, and ran in a loop around the reservoir. Everything is still covered in snow, so we didn't want to stay on the actual reservoir path (not shoveled!!), and we ended up just kind of winging it. We were on the roads, paths, and at one point on the packed snow, which was extremely slippery. Since this was the first "real" run, we definitely took it slow and we were both doing good by the time we got back to the start point.

Stats:

Warm up: 1.13 miles (not timed)

Run: 2.03 miles in 19:05 (pace = 9:24/mile)

Cool down: 1.13 miles

Total: 4.29 miles

When we got back, it was snowing again. We grabbed bagels and I took a cold shower to save the leg muscles.

I'm pretty happy with our pace, especially since it was intentionally slow. The relay officials recommend a pace of 9:00/mile. Of course it's different if you're going 8 miles instead of 2, but if we train for distance at this same pace, then kick it up a notch, we should be totally fine.

Good start!!