World Running Day, November 6, 2011

World Running Day was on November 6, 2011. I remembered running for National Running Day in June at Memorial Park with my old running partner. But this was WORLD RUNNING DAY. Thankfully, I did run, because that's alot of pressure to not run on the World Running Day.

I was supposed to do my big 8 mile run that day with Haley, but she got ... er...um...sick from the previous night out. Instead, I spent all day FINALLY fixing my running playlist on my ipod so that I can run alone. I just didn't think it would take me all day to do it. On a side note, I found out that I really do like my ipad once I learned how to use it. Somewhere around 2, I was preparing to run. Okay, really, I was sitting on the couch, loving my body molded to the couch and wrestling with whether I should or shouldn't run. I pretty much counted out trying to do a long run since I had to be at my brother's house for dinner at 5. After about 30 minutes of being lazy and wishy washy, I finally said, "I'm going!" I just decided that I will go for a quick 1.98 mile around the loop that I'm used to running. However, I will run it at a faster pace so that I can work on increasing my overall speed.

I grabbed Remington and headed to the park (driving, of course). I did a quick stretch, got my ipod up and running, and then let him do his bathroom business. We walked for about 50ft before we picked up the run. It didn't start out so well since Remi kept stopping to sniff or pee, but finally we got in to a rhythm. However, the constant stopping and starting made me sluggish. Plus, I was still feeling out of it from my 5 mile run on Saturday and being sick.

Even though there were stops a plenty in the beginning, we did manage to run the rest of the way around. My ipod played alot of the rock songs, which I was more in the mood for the hip hop/pop songs. But then...Eye of the Tiger came blasting on my earphone. I pictured myself as Rocky running in the snow ready to defeat the Russian in the name of America. I kept on pushing and pushing, not allowing myself to stop even though I was arguing in my head to stop and Remi was certainly getting slower and slower. Then, the Rocky training montage came on and I felt invincible. I picked up the pace, dragged Remi, and headed back to the starting point. It was not the best of runs (having alot of those lately), but it was something.

I did some minor stretching, but I need more. When I got done with this run, I noticed that my calf muscles were hurting. In fact, they are still hurting. It's like shin splits, but for the calves. I don't know what's going on, but I hope this doesn't get worse.

I hope everyone marks this date on their calendars for next year. Lace up those sneakers and get to running!