I actually made a long run this weekend, without having to beg, borrow and cheat to claim credit. Which isn’t to say that I had a successful week – I only got in one run, but I spent some quality time in the gym on the stationary bike, did a lot of walking at work, and generally managed only to put on a pound or so…
Yeah, that’s the sad truth. I’m averaging much closer to 175 than to 170. But, Runner’s World this month was all about weight loss, so, I think that the food journal is going to start again on Monday. Although today probably wouldn’t be an awful day to start.
Anyway, the run was exquisite. I finished up a bunch of errands (taught Sunday School, church, had a teacher’s meeting, did some troubleshooting and software education in support of next weekend’s pinewood derby, ran errands with the boys, etc) and headed out while Missy was fixing supper (she did her run – 8 miles, a short one while the boys and I were at the hardware store). I strapped on the sneakers, and headed down the hill towards Old Mystic.
I had in my head I was going to do the full-up Mystic River Loop, so I headed down the Stonington side of the river. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t feeling so terribly great as I headed under the IH-95 bridge, which is about the last point to bail and not have a farther run as an out-n-back than taking one of the bailout points after crossing the drawbridge. But, I figured I owed it to myself to press on, as it’s a few short weeks until I get to see the Doc’s kiddos, and race the OKC Half. If I don’t start sucking up some of this stuff, and running all regular and like, I’m gonna die trying to do 13.1.
So, I soldiered on, and as I passed the big Cemetary, suddenly, the legs felt great.
In truth, the run was exceptional – one of those where from time to time you get completely absorbed in your thoughts. I’ll be honest, I have absolutely no recollection of the stretch from IH-95 to the Seaport, or from the curve on River Road just after Bindloss until I was well north of IH-95. Not sure if it was just good tunes on the iPod, or if I was working through something from the office. Either way, it was nice to be lost in the reverie.
When I got to Bindloss, there’s usually a little bit of thought that I do trying to figure if I ought to head over the hill and cut the run short, of if I should gut it out, head up to Old Mystic, and add about 1.5 miles. Today, there was no thought – I was taking the road requiring more travel, and that probably made all the difference. Going back and looking at it in Nike+, I did the first 4 miles exceptionally consistently – solid 8:45s, and only slowed to 9:22s for the last three miles.
The last mile felt great. I tried to pick it up a bit, not that the record shows it. That section is all uphill, though, so maybe it wouldn’t show…
Anyway, I made it, without walking at all, and felt pretty darn good for the last 5 miles. My legs, when I make them work, seem to do pretty good.
Interesting tidbit – the average Nike+ run is 3.1 miles long. Which makes me feel really good. as I’ve averaged a little less than 4 miles per run.
Life looks to be returning to normal this week. I should be making the virtual rounds later. In the mean time, check out the Wilco concert over at NPR’s All Songs Considered.
Continue reading So, it turns out I AM still a runner