Hi. It's Laura.
The number seven is the fourth prime number; there are sevenwonders of the ancient world; James Bond's number is 007 and there are SevenDwarfs. There are countless movies with seven in the title (“The Seven YearItch”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “The Magnificent Seven” and let's not forget “Seven”). The New Testament, the Old Testament, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, even in religion, seven is everywhere.
It is even said to have mystical powers but today seven is the number of miles I ran.
I knew I had this run coming but was trying not to think about it because there is something about seven miles for me that is very daunting. I tried to analyze it but could not (at least while I was doing it). One factor for me is I do not know how to run seven miles. What I mean is that Central Park has a couple of different loops that you can combine: there is the lower loop (1.5 miles); the inner loop (4 miles); the lower plus the cross over (5 miles); the upper loop with the 72nd crossover (5 miles); the big loop (6. 11 miles) and none of them combine to make 7. Oh sure, eight, nine ten? No problem! But not seven?!
I admit this is a stressor for me. If I do the outer loop how do I add on another mile? Where do I go? How do I get home if I go past my entrance? It silly but you are “listening" to a woman who plans her food, plans her works out and plans pretty much everything. So if I cannot plan, I stress.
I also was not looking forward to this run because I had so much difficulty with last week's six mile run. I was worried that I would bonk at mile six again which again stresses me. If I can't run six, than I will fail at the tri. It’s a slippery slope. Now mind you, the eight miles I have schedule for next week don't faze me at all.
In order to change it up a little and make it a little easier on myself I ran the park counter clockwise so I would not finish going uphill. Mind you that does not make a Central Park run easy. Central Park is a very challenging run (I swear the entire thing is up hill!).
As far as I am concerned you do not need to add any additional challenges to a Central Park run like sprints or interval training. The rolling hills on the west side, the big hill at the top of the park and Cat hill on the east side present enough challenges. But sometimes, you add a challenge and don't even know it. Today was my run with new sneakers. I run with orthotics because of a bout of plantar fasciitis a few years ago. So I was very surprised to find my inner thighs lower glutes doing a lot of work today. I am sure I will not be able to walk tomorrow.
If you have never run distance, I will spare you the ugly details but strange things start happening to your body when you hit the long runs. I will say this: if you are interested in running distance runs become familiar with Glide.In addtion, don't try to run a long distance your first time out. Distance needs to be built on, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.
I am so please with my run today even though I was never able to settle in and calm down. I felt strong through to the end. The hardest part of the week (long ride, long run) is over. It’s all downhill from here.
Play hard!
Laura
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