Monday, March 5, 2012

Ha, Ha, Ha, Son, Real Funny

So I started taking my running a little more seriously this year, and by this year I mean 2012 (hey, I'm a teacher, so "this year" could also mean "since last August" right, and, you know, I like to be real clear-like when it comes to important stuff like this).  

So I'm trying to become a better runner…I even joined a running group, and I'm trying very hard to get in four runs per week.  So far I've been successful.  I'm feeling pretty good about myself…making the commitment and all, and also getting a wee bit faster.  Yay, me!

I have a 10K coming up and so I emailed the amazing leader of our running group and asked him what he recommended I do, running-wise, the week before the race.  His suggestion for the Sunday run was, "5 miles easy, with five 30-second strides after the run, resting for one minute between each stride."  

We do strides as part of our weekly track workout, so I know what they look like in that environment, but I wasn't quite sure what they would look like doing them on my own (and after a long run - we have always done them at the beginning of our track workouts, never at the end).  Since I'd never done strides after a run, and since I'm more than a little, um, OCD, I wanted to be sure I did them right.  

My son runs for his school's cross country team and so I asked him for clarification.

Me:  "Um, son, I need to do these strides, but I'm kind of confused because I usually do them before a run, not after.  So do I, you know, cool down first, after my run, and then do the strides, or do I, just, like, do them right away, with no cool down?"

Him:  "Um, mom, you know, the pace you run is pretty much a cool down, so, you know, you don't really need to worry about doing an actual cool down after your run, since your entire run will, um, be a cool down.  You know, you'll already be running a cool down, so, you know, you, like, don't have to do another cool down."

(Seriously?!  I swear to gawd if he had said "cool down" one more time with that smug, self righteous look on his face, I would have smacked him!  Well, you know, not really, since he's bigger than me and all, and, since, well, you know, I don't want to go to jail and all, but, you know, you moms all know what I'm talking about, right?)

"Your run is a cool down."  Ha!  Real funny, son, real funny…punk!

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