First Ever Outdoor Run!

Yikes!  I did it!

I took some time off today, and the sun was shining, and I hadn't done the run at the crack of dawn on the treadmill, and it looked so nice out... even though there is a wind blowing that makes it way less nice than it looks from inside. I've been thinking about it, and I had to give it try.

I felt slow and tentative. I guess that's what I should have expected to feel, but I had this image of myself loping along, blissed out by the music and nature... oh well, something to continue to aspire to. Plus, I'm pretty sure short-legged middle-aged ladies never really get to the "loping" stage.  I think I'll be pleased with getting out of the huffing and puffing stage.

Because that's what it was - huffing and puffing. Between my heart, my lungs, and my legs, the breathing is definitely my weak link right now. I ran out of breath before I ran out of energy. I went out the door, did a warm-up walk down into the park, and then ran along the creek trail up to the first intersection (only six minutes, but hard to keep going the whole way) and then walked for three, then ran to the next intersection (another six minutes), and then walked most of the rest of the loop home. My heart rate settled down pretty quickly, but I was still breathing quickly. It seemed to be taking me an awfully long time to get home, so I did throw in a short three-minute run right towards the end, as the road leveled off and headed to a steep uphill. I know my 5K will have a big uphill component - I walked some of it today.

Here's a link to my route.

And here are screen shots from the app I was using (RunMeter). It is an app I've used for a couple of years, though it's fairly low on the popularity list for running apps.  (I'm not sure why, and I'm thinking I will give some of the other apps a try as well.)

This complicated graph shows my pace on the top and my elevation on the bottom. You can see the pace of the runs, and where I stopped to wait for the traffic lights.

Here are the summary stats recorded for the run:
Run Time: 40:33
Stopped Time: 1:44
Distance: 2.68 miles
Average: 15:09 /mile
Fastest Pace: 9:58 /mile
Ascent: 479 feet
Calories: 331


I totally do not believe the calorie count. 


As an aside, it seemed to take me forever to get ready to go for such a simple and short run!  I needed to completely change my clothes, of course, and I had a hard time deciding what to wear because the weather is wonky. I figured (correctly) that I would be too warm while running, but would quickly get cold while walking, and so put on and took off some different layers. Then, I thought I might end up in downtown SS and want to get something to drink, so I needed money. I needed my heart rate monitor band on my chest, of course, but I also needed its matching watch to be able to read it. Then, I needed the iphone for the app, and I wanted the ipod for tunes, rather than listening from the iphone. I bought a little rubber wrist band with an engraved metal patch that has my emergency info in case I get hit by a car - I bought this a while back and this was the first possible chance I've had to wear it (not going to wear it in the basement)!  I needed something on my head and tried a few choices... 


I'll be back outside soon, but I'll also be back in the basement soon, to keep the longer intervals going. I would rate this a moderately successful experiment, but I'm glad I've got 10 more weeks to get ready for this.