Well, I am no good at picking football teams this year, but I did get out for a run today. After some rest and recovery the last 2 days I got the ball rolling again today with a 6 mile run.
Earlier in the week I promised the kiddo that we would take a walk on the “black bridge” this morning. The “black bridge” is his name of a bridge featured on Thomas the Tank Engine and he had been asking to walk on it. So, I thought it would be fun for the family to drive down to the bike trail and take a walk across the old railroad bridge that has been converted for foot/bike traffic. It was a little cold, but the buggo was so excited we hardly noticed. We were fortunate enough to see a bald eagle perched along the river bank and the kiddo enjoyed chasing pigeons on the walk. It was a really nice thing to do together.
My promise required that I say no to a workout with Duce this morning. He called in the morning to get me out and I had to decline. I hate doing that because I always get great workouts with him, but I had a prior engagement. What can you do, it is all about balance and the trip to the “black bridge” was worth it. I am learning that I cannot be in two places at the same time; try as hard as I might. All anyone can do is try and use their 22 hours a week as effectively as possible.
I got out after putting the kiddo down for a nap. By that time a light drizzle was coming down and was making things slick. As I sat in the car at the run site it did pass through my mind to skip the run today. I quickly dismissed the idea of staying dry and comfortable over the opportunity to run. I have been reading so much about the importance of recovery and I wanted a workout to recover from.
It was a good decision. I felt very strong, as strong as I have felt yet on the first 5 miles. The route was much icier than it has been in the past, so I knew right away that my pace would have to be slower to be safe. I spent the first mile and a half chasing a fellow runner who I nicknamed Red (because he was wearing a red shit). My pace through that was around 9:30 miles. I picked it up a little and passed him just before the mile 3 turn. The pass felt good. He was packing it in, I was heading out for 3 more, and I had enough in the tank to pass quickly.
Over the next 2 miles I stretched my stride where I could (over the icy spots I shortened them considerably). By mile 4 I was experiencing the importance of core. I noticed that when I was focused my core was able to keep my top half balanced and my legs were able to focus exclusively on driving me forward. By mile 5 I was feeling very good about my left knee but a little shaky in the right hip. By mile 5.5 I settled into a rhythm that I felt I could keep for an extended duration (however I think it was a 9:30 plus tempo). I have read that runners get into a zone where they can crank out miles. I have never felt this in the past at any tempo, but I am starting to think that perhaps I never ran far enough. I will be keeping an eye on mile 5.5 for a while to see if this continues. The last 200 yards were almost glare ice so I took it as a cool down and finished the run in 57:08 (9:25 miles). I hope Duce got out also.
The nutrition book (Thrive) is turning out to be a very good read. It is well put together for my analytical side and the information seems to line up with other creditable sources. From my reading so far I have drafted a new goal: Remove stress from my diet. No, literally remove stress from what I eat.
A good start to the week. I as setting this weeks goal to just to keep it going with an improvement in the amount of sleep department and getting in some additional reading.
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