Run, Ashley, Run!
"Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot" - Wikipedia.com
The word "rapidly" should be read with a lot of flexibility....because my means of terrestrial locomotion may not be so rapid.
On
June 8th I am participating in my second Race for the Cure. Except this
year, I'm actually doing the timed race. This was not my choice. My
girlfriends all came together to do the race, and THEY decided they
wanted to do the timed race. I was eventually convinced and told them to
just wait for me at the finish line.
I'm going to let you
in on a secret....I hate running. I legitimately hate it. Zumba I can
do. I love kickboxing. Sign me up for body pump or body combat and I'm a
happy girl. I can spend a good hour on the eliptical. For some reason,
running and I just don't get along. I'd like to blame it on my "Raymer
Legs" (short and stumpy), but I'm not sure that works because my sister
is a fantastic runner.
So because I hate running and it is
such a struggle for me, I have to train for 5Ks (I can hear the
snickering of my freakishly fit friends now). So I downloaded this app
that my sister uses called "RunKeeper." This app is great for me,
because when I do run, I prefer to run on a treadmill- mostly because I
want to see how many calories I've burned so I can get the hell off the
treadmill. However, I learned last year that training for a 5K on a
treadmill is helpful but not smart. I didn't really factor in hills so I
struggled even more than normal.
This year I've been
training outside. So I use this app and it's awesome. I have it
programed to alert me every .25 miles and/or every 5 minutes what my
current speed is, what my distance is, and what my average speed is. I
have it programed to help me keep on a target average speed, too. It
takes the guess work out of my running (aka tells me when I'm almost
done).
So at the beginning of every run, it's always like
"You are 45 seconds ahead of your target pace" and I'm feeling good, ya
know? I'm like, "yeah that's right, I'm a PRO!" Then....I start to get
really hot and slow down. Then there is this massive hill on my route
and its like "current pace, 12 minutes" (um seriously?!). By about 2.75
miles, I no longer love my app, because the nice voice seems to be gone,
because all I can hear is "YOU ARE 10 SECONDS BEHIND YOUR TARGET PACE"
every 5 minutes. Shut up you stupid app, you don't know me! You don't
know the hills I am dealing with! Also, where in the hell can I find
some water?! Is this ever going to end?! I NEED BETTER MUSIC! "YOU ARE
12 SECONDS BEHIND YOUR TARGET PACE"
Moral of the story- I
have a love/hate relationship with this app. Sometimes I want to throw
my phone on the pavement just so it stops yelling at me (but let's be
real here, that will never happen).
So, try to hold back
your laughter next time I say I'm training for a 5K. This is the
nightmare I endure. My means of terrestrial locomotion may not be
stellar, but hey at least I try.
Also, (shameless
fundraising) if you haven't already, feel free to donate to my race for
the cure page. The whole point is to raise awareness and funding for
cancer-- please help make this torture worth it by clicking the link
below:
The best thing about timed races is you are your only competition. Each race you get faster, each time all you have to do is beat yourself. So what I can't run an 8 minute mile -- I still beat my last 5K time and that's all that matters. I'm sure you will rock it! Thanks for the encouragement on my struggles :)
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