Week Three, day two

I did it! I went out running last night.

After I spent €100 on running-outside-clothes. Because I only used to work out in a gym, I have plenty of sports bras/tank tops/shorts. but I only have one real pair of workout-type pants, and I'm not the biggest fan of doing laundry alll the the time. So yesterday I purchased:

1. "Running Outside" pants. They're like warm leggings, with a special little pocket in the back for a key or something like that. fancy! And they cost about €45. I figure... well, even if the whole running thing is only a phase, I can still use them to cycle or just work out normally in a gym.

2. Sweatpants. They're warm and probably just fine for running outside, right? Again, even if the whole running thing is just a phase, I figure sweatpants are always handy for... actually I hate sweatpants but I'm sure they'll have some purpose in my life.

3. Hoodie. I needed a new hoodie anyway, and I doubt I actually use this one for running, but it's there.

4. Ear warmer headband thing. Turns out this doesn't work for me as I wear headphones when I run - the big kind that go over my head (ear buds don't work for me - my earnings knock them out). But that headband thing cost €5.00 and I'll probably put it to use when I'm riding my bike this winter.

I was super intimated looking at all the running accessories. I didn't buy gloves or a hat, I just wore my normal gloves and that was fine.

Okay, so I bundled up in my new fancy running pants, long sleeve shirt (just some normal cotton shirt), and a northface jacket liner. it's the thing I usually wear under my waterproof jacket - it's not heavy but not light. I didn't wear a hat or scarf.  It was probably about 2-3(C) degrees (about 35-37 F). it was cold. I hate cold. I went out.

my "brisk five minutes warmup" was indeed BRISK. I was cold. my jacket does zip halfway up my neck, but it's not snug. I held it closer around my neck while I was walking. When the first 90 second run came on I was happy to move more just to get warm. I noticed two thing. 1. I was definitely running slower than I had before 2. it was hard! when the 90 seconds was over, I went back to walking but felt REALLY out of breath. I know the same thing happens when I'm biking - even though I bike slowly on my old clunky bike and ride down flat streets, in the winter somehow it just seems harder. but I was surprised to find myself unable to really catch my breath and get my breathing back to normal. On the next three minute run, I made it through, but it was the same - harder, slower, not breathing well. on the following 90 second run I started to get cramps and knew I just wasn't breathing properly, but I didn't want to stop.

When I heard the "last run coming up" message from my app, I focused. I was warmer. I was still out of breath. But I started running, probably even slower than I had before. I was only focusing on my breathing - not how fast or slow i was going or what song was on, just breathe in-breathe out. it worked. I felt better. I finished the three minutes and then added on an additional 1 min 30 seconds, which means my last run was a total of 4min30 seconds. I walked for another 3 minutes or so, and then during the "cool down" I did a sprint! just wanted to see how it felt. it felt hard, by the way.

When I got to my house and took the headphones off, I heard myself breathing for the first time and noticed how raspy I was. When I got up the stairs and inside, I didn't go immediately for a glass of water like I normally do, I went for the couch. I laid down for a couple minutes, then decided that laying down was probably bad and counter-productive. I got up, sat on the floor with my back straight, and focused on breathing. in, out, yoga style. it took at least five minutes before I felt like I was breathing normally again, and while I was doing that I was also coughing just a bit.

I attribute all the breathing issues to the cold, not the run. my ears were fine, my nose and hands were fine, but my chest and throat need to be warmer. I could have worn another shirt, but my real question is what to do about my neck. a normal scarf would be itchy. turtleneck maybe? something else to investigate.

I also determined that I really should get a new pair of sneakers. mine are not running-outside sneakers, they're very much gym-sneakers. my knees and legs feel ok, but not perfect. and I don't want to mess anything up. so this little 5k goal is becoming kinda pricey all of a sudden...

... but if I'm going to make my goal of a 5k by the end of 2011, I need to really stay on schedule. I have exactly enough time to make my goal, but no extra time. oh, and by the way, because I don't have the GPS function working on my ipod touch, I don't actually know if I'll be able to do the five kilometers exactly - but to be honest that's not the important part. I just want to be able to run 30 minutes without stopping, and I can always work on improving my pace whenever I figure out what my pace actually is (it's slow).