Transition to the Outdoors

So, after a few weeks of saying I would run outside, but never doing it, the time came to venture to the outdoors to see if running outside was a lot worse than running on a treadmill. I had prepared myself to expect anything. I didn’t think it would be too difficult, but I really didn’t know. So on Monday (like 2 to 3 weeks ago now), after the girls went to bed at 7pm, I headed out into the unknown. I had stretched for the full 15 minutes as per my training plan and borrowed my wife’s watch, as I do not own one, to keep track of my pace and I was ready to go. (I have neglected to mention that my wife’s watch is a really sleek looking Nike watch. It was a Christmas present a few years ago, but … it’s pink.) So, with my wife’s pink watch, and my new Nike shoes (well they were new as of February) I took off for my first run outside. It felt pretty good to be outside with the wind and fresh air. It was a big improvement over my basement. Deb (that’s my wife), gave me a route to my daughter’s elementary school, so being the good husband I am, I listened to her advice and headed in that direction. For the most part I was feeling good, my breathing was steady and my legs were good, but the further I went the more labored my breathing became. I knew the first mile and a half would probably be the toughest, so I continued to push through the pain. My daughter’s school was in sight and as I approached I was wheezing like a asthmatic smoker. I couldn’t keep running and stay conscious so I slowed to a walk. Dejected, I turned to go home as I couldn’t run another step. My muscles were fine, but my breathing couldn’t take anymore strain. I guess all those folks who said running outside was “totally different” were right. How am I supposed to run 13.1 miles when I can’t even run 1 mile without almost passing out? So I walked home. Still wheezing when I arrived, I told Deb about my run. I could see the sympathy in her eyes while I relayed the story. She asked how long it had taken me to run to the school. It was a little more than 11 minutes 30 seconds. She said that I ran 1.5 miles in that time? I said I suppose. Well, as it turns out the school was 1.5 miles from the house, not 1 mile. I had run the mile in 7 minutes and 30 some seconds, which was way too fast. I should be running at a 10 minute per mile pace and that was the reason I couldn’t breathe (because I was almost sprinting). While Deb, my buddy Eric who got me into this and his wife all had a good laugh at my expense (and now I suppose more people will be laughing at this) I was able to realize that the real difference from the treadmill and outside running was the pace. I needed to get used to setting my own pace instead of letting a machine do it for me. This was my first adventure to outside running and it was quite a humorous one. I am happy to say that my next run outside was much better as I stuck to my 10 min/mile pace. This about catches me up to the present, other than the fact of my run last Saturday and my run yesterday, but these stories I will share next time. Moral of the story, if you are training for a half marathon, don't try and sprint the entire time, you'll either cough up a lung or pass out. Gotta run.