Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Happiest Song Ever

Today was my first run since the Cohasset race on 4/1. Mr. Pi had his first home lacrosse game and since I had to drive him halfway across town to the field for warm ups an hour before the game, I mapped out a four mile route and figured I'd go for a run while they got ready.

One thing I didn't think about checking was elevation charts after I mapped the run. I started hitting an incredibly steep hill, leveling off a bit, climbing some more, leveling off before another short climb and then a humungous downhill before circling back around on level ground.

The good thing is, because I bought a spiffy purple Ironman watch I decided that my first run back should be run/walks and did 4 minutes running/1 minute walking to complete a 5k distance and then, depending on how I was feeling, I could use the last mile to either walk or run.

One problem - I didn't quite figure out how to make the interval timer work. D'oh!

But I did keep a close eye as I ran down the street listening to the B52's - which is the happiest band ever. You just can't be depressed listening to the B52's and "Love Shack" is the happiest song of all. My Nike+ was giving me 1/2 mile checks, which was nice, and the first two miles full of major hills were a little rough but certainly comfortable. Just after the 2.5 mile mark the realization that I just hadn't had enough water today kicked in. I felt my lips start to tighten, my legs get a little weak and my breathing a little labored. So I adjusted to 2 minutes running/2 minutes walking until I hit the 5k mark for a 38 minute 5k. Not my best and not my worst time, but I did it and that's what was important.

I figured I wouldn't push the last mile and just walk, but then "Love Shack" came on and I just can't be glum when it's "Love Shack" - it is the happiest song by the happiest band. Once that started up (15 miles to the Looooooove Shack!) I happily ran down the street towards the lacrosse field, finishing up just a couple of minutes after the game started.

Mr. Pi got goalie time in the 4th quarter. The defense did their job and kept the pressure on the opposing team, so he didn't have to do any work really. He has two more games this week - one home and one away. So I'm looking forward to catching at least one of them, if not both.

I'm looking to get a run in tomorrow and then Sunday's the Doyle's Emerald Necklace. Gazelle Boy will probably fly over the course yet again while I trot along in the back listening once again to the happiest band ever.

2 comments:

Nini said...

Funny you should bring this up... I figured out the interval timer on my ironman this afternoon... It's pretty easy (it just took some poking around). Here's how I did it... not sure if this is what you're looking for.

Go to timer... set the timer for 4 minutes (I was doing 3/1).

So then I set it to repeat itself (that was at the top of the screen).

I had to watch the watch for the first minute (which was the walk minute), but then the alarm would ring when I was done with the run portion. Then I didn't have to be a slave to the watch while running.

Not sure if that's what you wanted, but it worked for me :)

Laufenweg said...

I got me a car, it's as big as a whale and we're headin' on
down To the Love Shack I got me a Chrysler , it seats about 20 So hurry up and bring your jukebox money!!!! (yeah! Love Shack is on my play list too!)
like you, i can get new energy and inspired by my tunes. this week its: "are you gonna be my girl" by Jet. it's not the lyrics, but the energy and the beat - i like it at the end of my run. :-)