27 September 2007

Just Cruising

Today I had intentions of running 8-10 miles at marathon pace. I ran 4. I loved it. After about 3 miles my calves were really starting to remind me of this past weekend's performance, so I wisely shut it down a little early. During the first two miles of the run, the pace was what seemed like a crawl. I thought to myself at this point in the run, "I'm going to keep this pace up, just so see what I perceive as a slow pace really is."
It was a 7:05 pace. With tired legs, a kinda runny nose, and no real ambition to continue with the run, I was still cruising at 7:05. Can you sense the confidence building? Granted, it was only 4 miles, I really didn't feel that great, and it means very little regarding Oct 7th, but it felt great to be able to cruise at such a pace. Not long ago (like this spring) my cruising pace was much closer to 9 minutes. I can remember writing this past May about trying to run 5 miles at my PMP and nearly passing out.
This weekend I'm off to St. Louis with Ellie to attend a fundraiser at the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where she used to work. I loved running at this county park in St. Louis called Castlewood, and I'm going to try and sneak in a run on Saturday--hopefully when Ellie is visiting the mall?

2 comments:

Nancy said...

Love exploring new places or going back to a favorite spot while visiting. I feel this way about running the lakefront in Chicago. I don't get there often but love to experience it whenever I am there. Have fun!!

Marcy said...

Ohhhh you don't worry. Give her some plastic she can burn and she'll leave you alone to run for hours :P