Day 31 (Sun - 1/31)

It is the last day of month one. There have been several starts in the last 31 days. I have started training; I have started removing stress from what I eat; I have started a habit to clean for at least 15 minutes after dinner to help keep the house moving; and I have started the work needed to protect my 22 free hours a week. The benefits of this work are also being felt. I have had a couple of set backs and have not protected my family time as well as I would like to going forward, but all in all this month was a mighty step forward.

Today I chose to go on side of longer distance with lower intensity. I ended up running 7.4 miles over 1:07:32 (9:07 miles). I am thrilled with the pace and with the distance. That is the second time this year that I posted a “longest run ever” and I felt really good the whole way through. There were a couple of spots where I felt my legs itching to drive in a higher gear, but I kept it slow and steady and ended up with a great pace for me.

It was a cold day so there were not many people out but I did pass a trio of walkers (The Trio) in the first half mile and decided to use them as a check point just in case I ran into them again. I finished the first 3 miles in 26:45 (8:55 miles) and ended up passing The Trio again around mile 5 (I had come back around the large loop and caught them on my second pass as they were finishing their 1 loop). The second 3 miles took around 28:16 (9:25 miles). I decided to open it up around the small loop for the last 1.4 miles and finished in 12:31 (8:55 miles). During the last quarter mile I ran into The Trio again and pushed home to pass them for a third time. This was encouraging in the following way: Although I sometimes feel that I could walk faster than I run in the middle of a long run, on this occasion I ran 7.4 miles in the time it took The Trio to walk 3. The lesson, keep running and don't give in. All in all I was surprised how well my legs held up at this pace that a year ago would have been an all out 1 mile run.

The wind was sweeping and pleasant for the most part and the sky was a crystal blue, but the thing I will remember most about the run was the ice. It was settling in the reservoir and was making deep drumming sounds like a stick hitting a water cooler jug. Deep and echoing like large drums keeping a beat that kept me going. I think I will hear those drums for the rest of the season.