Adventures in Running Lake Padden

Ow?

I did it. I went for my first jaunt. I intended to merely run from our home, down the road, to the stop sign and back. Maddie said, "What are you doing with your shoes on?" before I left. And this other neighborhood kid said, "Who is that in the grey (running outfit)?" with a look of disbelief on his face (mind you this child has seen me many times before. Thanks for the morale boost kids. Enter Katie Ruthford-my seriously in shape neighbor. She had some other plans for us-like, oh, running AROUND LAKE PADDEN!!!!!!?

I decided to wear some old warm up pants and a Bloomsday marathon shirt that our seriously in shape friend Matt gave me yesterday as an accessory to my "outfit" THANKS MATT!

Before I committed to leaving the house for my run, I did some procrastinatory things to escape the inevitable...checked my e-mail, and Facebook of course, did some dishes, changed a baby. And then my coach, er, I mean, Katie knocked on the door and with a spark in her eye and a way too chipper tone said, "Okay, you ready?" Uh? No?

So we did some stretching which I guess helps warm up the legs and such and then we were off. I saw some very serious runners who looked like they would kill me if I got in their way, so I stayed off to my side of the trail. Katie was energetic and bubbly and let me know we would walk the hills...the hills? Cripes. It felt fine for about 10 minutes and then a flashback of running around the track in high school came flooding my mind...I could almost hear Coach Reicshman saying, "GET MOVING! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY HERE FOLKS!! REBECCA!!!! STOP DOING YOUR HAIR WHILE YOU RUN!!!!" I got the obligatory side ache and told Katie. She told me to do some birth breathing, like letting all of my air molecules out completely. So I did. I just pretended I was in labor. It hurt like labor pains. Okay not that bad, but definitely uncomfortable. But while I was struggling to keep a good pace, something was happening. I felt my breath becoming more deep, and for the first time, in a long time, I felt awake and motivated to keep going. So I did.

There were a few "dog hurdles". That's when the owners of small dogs don't keep them on a leash and as you are running, they sort of come up like they want a pet, but you aren't sure if they are going to move, so you just hurdle over them. Or around them. It irritated my serious running coach Katie. And she is right, they really should be leashed.

Then, near the end of the 2.3 miles or whatever horrible distance it was, I heard these words. "Yes, they are running and doing a great job!" It was a dad talking to his kid. He saw me and used the word "runner" in my presence. Sweet.

So we rounded the last bend and then it was walking time (thank you God almighty in Heaven!!!!) and then to the car and back to the house.

My hamstrings hurt (Katie said I could go down the stairs backward if they really hurt tomorrow-gee, great, thanks for the warning (SERIOUSLY?) and I did take a hot bath. I was NOT prepared for the gigantic, voracious appetite that hit me after the run...I'm still hungry after a huge pasta salad, some toast, some eggs, spinach, tea, a cookie, and a bowl of cereal. But then again, I am still nursing baby Ben, so I am working off double calories. Or something like that. Any tips for a good, healthy, filling meal after a run would be super.

I am learning how to post pics on the blog site-Nick will help with that later on. He is on a night mountain bike ride. That's right A NIGHT TIME MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE. Do you see what I am up against? I live in a neighborhood where every other neighbor is like an Olympic athlete, my husband enjoys riding up a mountain at night on a bike and I have Coach Katie two doors down who likes to run the way I like to eat cookies. I'll never be able to not exercise again! The accountability is nauseating.

I will post tomorrow with the results of how my legs feel and some sweet pictures. But for now, I feel good. I feel the deep breath in my chest and the good tiredness similar to the only main form of exercise I knew as a kid. Going into the ocean and being tossed by the waves while bodyboarding for hours and hours. And then taking a hot shower and putting on soft jammies. Now THAT, is a good feeling, and THIS is mimicking it enough so that I will be running again the day after tomorrow.

Signing off to go eat a steak,

Rebecca