I have a fairly lengthy post churning around my head about the Half Ironman, my hopes and worries, and why I want to do it in the first place. But I don’t feel like writing it all right now.
I am ready for all the Resolution Runners — the people that decided to start running as a New Year’s resolution thing — to just give up already and stop taking up all the machines at the gym. Ha! I know, I know, I should support them, but let’s be honest — there’s a reason the gym is most crowded in January, and there’s a reason that it drops off quickly after that first month.
Anyway, once again I didn’t have my cold weather clothes with me last night, mainly because running in very cold temperatures seems to do a number on my lungs and leaves me coughing all night. I planned to run inside on the treadmill, and I had to wait 10 minutes for a free machine! The gym has about a dozen of them (I’m guessing at the number, but it’s close) and they were all full. All the ellipticals were full too. I was annoyed.
I did end up getting on eventually. Last night was fish night and the debut of Gavin and Jen’s new HDTV, and I’d already told them I’d be a little late, but with the waiting for the treadmill, I knew it might make me even later. “Oh well, I’ll just cut this run short,” said my head. Honestly, with all the people in the gym, I figured I’d be limited by the 30-minute time limit during peak hours! But as a half hour came and went, the gym thinned out enough that there were always at least one or two treadmills available, and I decided that I could take the fastest shower ever and thus get to fish night only a half hour late. So, I never got off the treadmill easly, and I didn’t get to wuss out of the workout after all.
I did my 5 miles, the first mile at 5 mph (12:00 pace) and the next 4 at 5.5 mph (10:54 pace) for a total of 55:36.
Now, I’ve always considered myself to be pretty decent at math, but I can’t figure this one out: if 5 mph is 12:00/mile and 6 mph is 10:00/mile, why isn’t 5.5 mph equal to 11:00/mile?? Now, I can do the math one way and say, well, 11 minutes per mile. 60 minutes divided by 11:00/mile is 5.4545 miles… which, of course, is not 5.5. And 60 minutes divided by 5.5 miles is 10.9090…/mile which, of course, is not 11 minutes.
But 5 mph is 10, and 6 is 12! Halfway between each is 5.5 and 11! I must admit that this has puzzled me for quite some time. Don’t tell my bosses.
In my first week after the half marathon, I’ve already run 8 miles and will run 4 more tonight. For me, this is unheard of. I usually take the whole week off, but not this year. I am going to be a Half Ironman.