I am now entering unexplored territory for my adult running career…three miles! This may not be unprecedented because I was in track during my freshman year in high school, a sport not requiring much skill. Those days didn’t involve me running greater distances than a couple miles at once but I know I put in a few cumulatively. What I would give to have my 14-year-old joints now!
Three miles happens to be my distance ceiling for the long term. The next goal is to bring down the time to achieve it on a consistent basis. Today I managed 29:56 which gives me an average speed of 6 mph. Over the Summer I will try to shave 30 seconds or more. By the end of 2012, maybe a minute.
Why? Besides still being 40-50 pounds overweight, I want to get my heart rate and caloric burn up. Today’s run consumed 350 calories, I then defeated it with a Starbucks drink (skim milk and one shot of syrup barely helps!); burning 500/day would rock. I also couldn’t believe how low my heart rate was when I finished…in the 130s. How could my heart be all “feh!” while the rest of me was “Pant! Pant! Stop doing this! I want some Whataburger!” The adrenalin buzz and sense of completion does help keep my anxiety in check; being obese (as per my BMI) is something bothering me.
There is another ulterior motive at work other than vanity. A co-worker showed me this running franchise coming to Austin. The distance is 5K (3.1 miles). If I can run like hell, I think I have a decent chance. I’m worried about the obstacle element, I sucked at the rope climbing portion of gym class, I suffer from Muppet arms. Then comes my next big concern, the zombies. Are they going to be the sprinting kind from Zombieland, Zack Snyder’s horrible remake or 28 Days Later (technically these people aren’t dead)? I would prefer the traditional George Romero slow shuffling types from Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead and The Kids in the Hall. There’s a third possibility. In The Walking Dead, the zombies only become fast when they smell the living and their numbers are high. The $77 registration fee makes it a bit prohibitive and Central Texas isn’t exactly comfortable in mid December, the weather could be warm, pleasant, cool or worse, freezing rain.
Wish me luck on pushing out my mileage. I’m on the cusp of Clovis, NM too. The next destination is much farther.