41:16 Day Four

Well, the first half of the run was fun.

Run for 6/9/2011

Today, the 20 minutes on the way out got me a block and a half past Chestnut Drive, which had been my turnaround point the day before. So today I turned around between Woodview Drive and Oakview Circle on Old Ithaca Road. I could see Wygant Road just up ahead.

Google maps measures the route from my house to Woodview Drive via Ridge Road as 1.7 miles. If I put Oakview in as my destination it doesn't even give the Ridge Road route as an option. Anyway, it was at least a 3.4 mile run.

However, my total time was 41:16, which means it was a struggle on the way back. I blame the 17-year-old in my head for getting me to start out too fast. And on this route, a fast start going downhill means you will cover a lot of ground in the first half of the run. Then you have to work much harder going uphill on the way back.

I would much rather be able to cover less distance consistently than cover more distance and end up struggling at the end. If I do run farther on the way out, it doesn't fully count in my mind unless I can get back in the same time. That's where pacing comes in.

BTW, on the way back, I heard a twig snap behind me, and I knew another jogger was closing in. It turned out to be a female runner, who passed me fairly easily. Back in the XC days, I would have used that to try to run faster to keep ahead. At this point in the run, I just couldn't even keep up as she passed me. Anyway, it helps to keep the ears clear.

As a side note, I felt light-headed about a half-hour after my run. I was making the boys their lunches for school when it hit me. I felt better after I sat down and ate.

I'm not too worried about it at this point. I attribute it to how I have been eating recently. The running has  been boosting my metabolism and lowering my appetite. I'm eating less and snacking less. For dinner, I usually eat a plate of spaghetti, but to me that's just fueling up for the next day's run. It's like pulling into a gas station and filling up the tank. The spaghetti is all carbs, and it all gets burned off in the run. By the time I was making the lunches, my body was starved. That's why I felt faint, and I felt better after I ate.

So, the weight loss is not so much from the running. The weight loss is happening because of the higher metabolism and lower intake of food.

These are all things to be tinkered with as I go along.

Today the bathroom scale says I gained a pound from yesterday. BMI is at 35.1.