Best Run Ever...

Okay, so this is going to be a two-in-one post because I forgot to blog yesterday... le sigh... (I'm going to relieve the suspense and tell you that the second run was the best. Just so you know).

So, yesterday I did an easy 6.3 miler. It was on-purpose-easy because 1) I didn't feel that good once I got started and 2) it was the 4th day of my streak, which may not be a lot for some, but it's been a while since I've ran that much, so I wanted to take it easy. For number 3, I keep getting reminded that slow, easy miles are good and should be a regular part of endurance training.

My goal was a 15:00 pace and I actually ended up doing 14:32, despite loads of walking to keep myself on my goal pace. I really, really didn't want to go too fast on a longer run for fear of blowing up, plus, as I said before - long, slow miles.

So a breakdown of that:

Lunge Matrix warm up
Mile 1: 15:14
2: 14:00
3: 14:52
4: 16:21
5: 13:56
6: 14:41
Last .3: 4:28 @ 14:43 pace

So yeah, I got a good easy run in, which I was happy about. I listened to 100 mile ultrarunning (one of my favorite podcasts) and enjoyed it immensely. As a matter of fact, I wasn't done by the time the podcast was and so I switched to music. I found that it was just too much. I realize that, at least for now, the stress of finding the "right" song for the "right" pace is just too much and is overriding the "listen to your body!" mantra that works so well for me! So I'll be taking a break from music and going back to podcasts (which I really have missed!) at least for now.

Okay, the second (today's) run was awesome. It's the 5th day in a row that I've ran. I felt sure that my legs were going to be sore and just uncooperative and miserable. I had planned a 6 miler again but only did 3.2, but not for the reason you might think (aha!).

Earlier, I was looking at the time limits for the marathon in May (yippee!) and found that only the first half had a time limit. The first 13.1 miles had to be done in 3:30 because of road closure issues. I decided that on Sunday, I was going to run 13.1 (or as much as possible) just to see where I stand. Thus, I decided that I'm going to take it easy on today's and Friday's run so that I'll be more prepared for Sunday.

So, on my run, I felt awesome! I was able to just zone out and multiple times I forgot that I was even running! I've never had that happen to me before. I had to stop and walk a couple of times, sure, once because I was really charging a hill and decided to slow up and ended up talking (while walking) to someone for longer than I absolutely wanted. Another time I stopped because I was getting abdominal cramps (dehydration?), and at the end, I was feeling so good and didn't want to "ruin" it that I walked a short, steep hill. I felt so, so, so good. I think the fact that I jump started my mileage and started running more has maybe broken through a rut I was in and didn't realize it - or didn't know how to get out of. So, the truth really is, run more to run better!

I was aiming for a 14:00 pace just so I knew I could take it easy. I knew I would probably do better once I got going because I felt so good. I actually did a tiny bit of sprinting, haha. This time I was listening to Running From the Reaper (another favorite) and was really, really able to zone out. I didn't PR or anything, but it was a very happy, satisfactory run. It was a run that made me realize what I can do, instead of feeling like my body can't do what I want it to. I didn't even look at my Garmin that much! I sort of just loped along at a pace that my body and the road allowed, which wasn't too slow - especially considering the insta-boost in mileage- and it was just awesome!

Anyway, breakdown:

Lunge Matrix warm up (slightly abbreviated)
Mile 1) 14:35
2: 13:02
3: 14:23
Last .2: 2:22 @ 11:49 pace.

My average pace ended up being 13:52.

So not especially speedy, but it was especially nice. I hope tomorrow's goes just as well!

Happy Running!