What a great day. And I ran. Maybe those things are related. Probably they are.
Ken freaked out when he saw on my Garmin download that I ran 7 miles today. I did really traverse 7 miles, but some of it was walking, however not as much as you'd think given my lax training lately. No soreness or injury issues to report despite the distance today. My calves were pretty tight at the end, but not a problem at all.
My miles were 11:52, 11:29, 10:55, 11:14, 10:20, 12:02, and 17:52. I didn't set out to run any specific distance, I just did what I wanted. Although it was tough to make myself go outside, I didn't feel rushed at all and ended up having a great run. I ran the 5K distance in just under 35 minutes (the last 1/4 mile was pretty fast for me). Then I walked about 30 seconds before running again. After about a mile, I decided I'd try to do 5 miles in under an hour and the last 3/4 of the 5th mile was pretty fast. I hit the 5 mile mark at about 56 minutes. Then I walked another 30 or 40 seconds and took off running again, this time thinking I'd do the 10K distance. I had to walk a little during the 6th mile to address an MP3 player issue, but I finished the 10K in about 1:09. Then I walked the rest of the 7th mile.
It was a bit chilly today, low 30's, but sunny and nice. I started out with running tights with shorts over them, a long sleeved t-shirt, a light zip-up sweatshirt, stocking hat, and gloves. Mile 1 and 2 were loops around my house so I ended up dropping the gloves, jacket and hat pretty early in the process. The total time out there was an hour and 25 minutes. With such a great run, I was entertaining thoughts of the Capitol City half marathon on May 1. I'm worried it would be depressing though because there would be NO WAY I could beat or do as well as my only half marathon run of just under 2:30. Of course, I had the pesky issue of cancer since then and then there is the fact that I was thoroughly trained for the 2008 half and I'm not remotely trained now. But, hey, still. I'm afraid I'd be discouraged. I think my friend Eunice is doing that race. She'd certainly kick my butt, as well she should. She's more than thoroughly trained.
Anyway, I'm pretty psyched about my run today. It wasn't fast, but was the furthest I've run in a very long time. Also I was impressed that I was able to pick up the pace a couple of times to run a sub-10-min mile pace for 1/4 and later a 3/4 mile. That's also good.
I remember this feeling from training for the half. The first mile or two is always tougher than subsequent miles and it's easier to stop and to assume you are "done" and woefully out of shape. Today I ran my fastest mile as mile 5. And though my times slowed after that, mile 6 was a faster pace most of the time, it's just the walking twice that eased my time into the 12 min mile range.
If it's a gorgous day where you are, or even if it isn't, get out there and walk or run or do whatever it is that will improve your day. I know that I certainly need to do more of this.
Beth posted this fun dancing youtube video on her blog and I thought I'd pass it along to you all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
Click it for a smile.
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