Running Chick

Aside from the last 1.5 miles of my run today, everything went well.

The temperature was perfect, the sun was shining and again I was out early enough that I didn't encounter much traffic. I ran into the wind for the first one or so miles, which was really chilly, but once I hit Manninen Road the wind shifted behind me and I warmed up. My doggie friends from Denton Road came out to see me again but they weren't as enthralled with me as they were last week. The St. Bernard came over for a pat on the head, then he took off. Sheesh.

The last 1.5 miles were hard. My legs were burning, my breathing was all screwed up and I felt like I kept on getting slower and slower. I passed the 7-mile mark and thought about just giving up, but struggled for another half-mile then decided to turn around and end at the BP gas station again. As soon as I turned around, I figured out why I was struggling. I was running up a giant uphill stretch that kept on getting gradually steeper the longer I ran. I couldn't see this when I was running at all. When I run hills, I usually shorten my stride and drop my speed to conserve energy. Since I couldn't see the hill, I just kept on trying to keep my pace and stride up and I was slowly dying the longer I ran uphill. As soon as I turned around, everything fell back into place and I was able to finish strong in the last half-mile. That will teach me to pay more attention to what I'm doing rather than just zoning out.

This week's totals:
17 miles @ 3:09:33
Average pace 11:08 (5.4 mph)