Running, Ran

Today was a cardio-only day, and since I had all kinds of energy (not) I decided that I'd see if I could run a mile today. I've found that when I want to run, HIIT just doesn't seem to work because my body doesn't allow me to run fast enough to actually get much more than winded; I hurt more than anything. So I rarely break a sweat if I do HIIT on the treadmill.

HOWEVER, I wanted to run, so I challenged myself to run a mile. After a 5-minute warm-up, I set the treadmill to 5.5 mph (I know, I'm a turtle), and set the pace. The treadmill I use has a neat feature telling you what pace you're running the mile in when you set the speed, and it said I was running a 10:54 minute mile. All right, then, I would run until the clock said 15:54.

Well, I did it. YIPPEE! I (me, myself, and I, the NON-runner) ran my first mile without stopping or slowing down (like ever). So I'm happy. Even if I am slower than molasses in January, I can beat all of you at HIIT kettlebell swing contests, so there. ;)

I didn't feel too bad during the run either, slightly winded but not out of breath. My legs got tired more than anything; it was hard not to focus on how tired my ankles were. I must have weak ankles or something. I'm also an odd runner. I have to work harder on my right side than my left. This is what causes the hip issues (well, actually, the hip issues cause the odd running, but in a nice cyclical fashion, the odd running makes my hip hurt- at least, it used to, not so much anymore b/c all my balance muscles are stronger- thank the single leg deadlifts and SL RDLs for that).

I lost my pace at about 15:00 minutes, and got a nice stitch in my side as a reward, but I finished out and went to 16:00 minutes. So I know now that I can run a mile. Next goal? A mile and a half, so 16 minutes of straight running, which would bring me to 22:00 minutes on the treadmill. Hmm, nice challenge. I may run a 5k this summer after all...