Wow! My first sub-9-minute mile in quite a while! I did NOT want to run today. I was up late, I ran yesterday, it was a wicked long weekend, etc... But I told myself that these are the days when I have to be disciplined and it will pay off in the long run. With my weight dropping continually, I need to continue to train, too.
So I dropped the kids off and hemmed & hawed, stopping to buy a water & powerbar since I'd forgotten mine, and drove around a bit going back & forth in my head about running or going to work, having to change, where to run, etc... Finally I parked at Kinsella park, changed, and got warmed up.
I decided to go with a t-shirt under a long-sleeve shirt, a combo which works well on these chilly & windy mornings when I forget my jacket. I work my NB sneakers and my Brooks shorts. I started at the park & ran up Canada Road to the intersection w/ South Hamilton street. At first I was jogging in a 4/4 breathing pattern and when I realized what I was doing, about 2 minutes in, I upped it to 3/3 and my speed picked up, too.
The first mile was about 8:40 if I recall & calculated correctly. That was surprising when I looked at my watch. I knew there was a big hill at Healthworks so I just tried to keep a steady pace going. Around the Walmart entrance by Spring Pond I noticed my shorts were chafing my left inner thigh. I tried to move the shorts up, down, sideways, etc... but nothing helped for long. I considered stopping but I recalled the words from "Once A Runner" that says all runners deal with pain eventually - there's no finessing it. Those words kept me going.
The hill outside Healthworks was indeed tough, but for the most part I kept my rhythm the same only switching to 2/2 near the very top. I didn't slow down on the downside, keeping the pace up and just using the easier workload to regain some energy and then I was able to really pick up the pace when things flattened out again. As tired as I was during the run, when it was over, I felt like I could have gone longer / faster. Tomorrow is an off day and since Annie is away on Friday & Saturday, I'm planning to run on Thursday & Friday mornings. Gotta keep up the good work!
