I Suck At Running

today, i had a slight bout of insanity.

karen was working late tonight, so i had some time to kill before picking her up at the subway station. you'd think with the extra free time today, i would decide to do something fun or possibly take a nap or something. nope, i decided to go running today.

i haven't gone running in quite some time. because i have not run in quite some time, i figured today would be a good time to start. after all, i am apparently running a road race in four days. my favorite sister-in-law (janine) heard about a two mile road race in chelmsford on the fourth of july. the road race is known as the john carson road race (not to be confused with johnny carson... insert ed mcmahon's "yes!").

anyway, karen and i ran the john carson two mile road race several years ago. the race is actually pretty fun because 1) it's not that long (only two miles) and 2) people are all lined up along the course cheering you on. (there is a parade immediately following the road race so people line up early to get seats.) plus, there is always food after the race. food is always good.

needless to say, after hearing about the race, janine was excited to run the road race. i'm quite proud of janine. she seems to have made working out/losing weight a lifestyle change (and not a cyclical activity that most others fall prey to). so in support, karen and i said we'd run with her on the fourth of july.

so naturally, with the road race approaching in four days, i figured i had to start some sort of distance running. as i was in quincy and in need of a course to practice running on, there was only one course that i knew of... the degan road race course. unfortunately, the degan road race course that i know is 5k (which is a little over 3 miles).

thinking nothing about the distance, i started running the 5k course. i suck at running. of course, the heat and humidity did not help. i could never run in the humidity. add to the humidity, the fact that i was wearing flannel boxers... and you can imagine how dreadful today's run was. (don't ask me why i was wearing flannel boxers... they were the first things i grabbed this morning.)

all in all, my run today was downright awful. i had sweat pouring off of me; i was dehydrated; my knee started hurting with every stride midway through the course; my right quadriceps started tightening (from my dehydration i imagine). the only good news is that i finished the course. i actually think the degan 5k course is short of 5k as i had made a complete loop well within half an hour.

when all was said and done though, i'm glad i ran today. i just hope i'm not too sore (or injured) tomorrow.