Thursday, June 7, 2007

A New Place to Run?

No running for this little runnergirl since my race, but I have been walking my butt off (Quite literally, I hope!)

I have been getting up at the crack of dawn, which I just love oh so much, to walk with my mom. We've been averaging between 3 and 4 1/2 miles a day, depending on what time I have to be at work. I just can't bring myself to actually set my alarm in the 5 o'clock hour, so some mornings we only have time for the 3 miles. The rest of the days we go 4 - 4 1/2 miles, depending on if we are walking at my house or hers. I've actually been a little sore, and can tell that I am using a few different muscles for walking compared to running.

My various aches and injures have been keeping quiet during my walks, but my knee does shout out an occasional protest. I'm just ignoring it like I usually do.

I do intend to continue with my running, though. The plan is to just take it easy this summer and decrease the miles and to not be in training for anything for a while.

I've been meaning to check out some different parks and/or tracks around town, and just haven't gotten around to it. I'd love to find a place that actually had a drinking fountain or two along the way, but so far no luck! So, I'm thinking that I'll make the time to do that this summer.

So, as a start to my search, last night I went for a walk around the new walking/running track that they put in near my house. I felt a little silly driving 2 miles to walk around in a 1.8 mile circle, but so be it. I was curious to check it out and see if it would be a good place to run. And I'd already walked 4 miles that morning and didn't want to add the extra 4 miles on that it would have taken to walk to the track and back.

I decided that I did like the setting. A small portion of it runs parallel along the roadside, but for the most part it wanders through farm land. There are quite a few areas where it is lined with trees, which might provide some shade depending on the time of day. It did also have quite a few gently rolling hills, which would be excellent for me, since we all know how much I suck at hills! I'm sure they would feel like mountains to me while I was running, but it would be good training for me.

There isn't the greatest place to park near the track, but it wouldn't be too bad if I had to stop by my car in between laps for some water. Much better than trying to keep swinging by my house when I run at home.

The only thing I didn't like about it is less than a quarter of the track is actually paved. The rest is gravel and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I suppose it might be easier on the joints than running on asphalt, but it makes me feel less sure of my footing. I'm not sure if they intend on paving the rest or not. I originally thought that they just hadn't finish it, but then last night while walking I noticed that they have the dirt at the sides all smoothed out and the grass replanted. It seems strange that they would have done that before finishing the paving, so now I'm thinking maybe they intent on keeping it as is. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Last night, I decided that I am unable to actually take a walk alone. If I'm with someone else, then I'm fine. But if I'm by myself the urge to break out in a run is too strong and I can't resist it. I went to the track with the intent of taking a leisurely walk. I didn't even have on my running shoes or a sports bra! But there were a few times when I just couldn't stop myself and I broke out into a run. Partly I wanted to test out running in the gravel, but mostly I just couldn't stop myself. I really wasn't there for more exercise or to get a work out. I was just kinda checking it out to gauge if I wanted to come back and run there in the future. It's almost scary how ingrained in me running is!

1 comment:

  1. Walking can be just as beneficial as running in many ways, so it's great that you're motivated to do it so regularly.

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