Fastest run! Today was my regular Sunday run at Memorial Park with my friend Shelley. The weather was brisk but a good temperature for a run (around 50 degrees). Cold enough for a long sleeved shirt layer at the beginning but once I warmed up, I took off the long sleeved shirt and just ran in my short sleeved shirt that I had underneath.
It was overcast and foggy and there weren’t many runners out this morning. Maybe its the holiday season and everyone was sleeping in to recuperate from Christmas parties or maybe it was the weather. In any case, it was a nice change to be on the running trail with fewer people.
Today’s run started out at a nice pace. Easy so that Shelley and I could catch up on the past two weeks (since we didn’t run last week). Our pace was 12:50 for the first mile. As usual, I started running out of steam near the end of the first mile. I don’t know why this happens, but having someone with me to help push through this makes a difference. Our second mile was much better at a 12:26 pace. A few times I thought we were running a bit too fast, but just talking helped me forget about it. The third mile was perfect. We again picked up the pace and averaged 12:15 for this final mile. Negative splits and a good run overall at 36:42. We actually didn’t do a complete 3 miles but 2.93 is good enough for today!
I was surprised when I got home and downloaded my run that it was the fastest run to date! I always love it when my TomTom Sports program gives me a trophy!
I waited until I got home to stretch and even put my seat heaters on in my car to make sure that my muscles stayed warm. I’m still struggling with the pigeon pose as my left hip gets quite tight when I run. I know that one of these days, though regular yoga and stretching it should get looser…but right now, its always a bit tight.
I also used the foam roller for a bit. I’ve gotten used to it for most of my lower body, but rolling the IT band is always a bit painful. Hopefully if I keep it up, it will eventually start to be easier. I saw this sports training video recently online that says that you shouldn’t foam roll your IT band but concentrate on hamstrings, quads and glutes…but there are so many other trainers that say you should. I’m just going to keep trying for awhile and if it doesn’t stop being painful, then maybe I’ll just focus on my hammies, quads and glutes.
Shelley and I have also decided on a few goals for 2018. First, we are going to sign up for the Rodeo Run 10k, which is on 24 February. I’ve never run in the Rodeo 5k or 10k so it should be fun. The good news is that it doesn’t start until 9:20am! I tried to convince her that we should do the 5k (as I’ve never run one yet without stopping) but she reminded me that I’m running a 5k regularly while I’m training…so its not really a good challenge.
We’ve also decided to add some strides to our Sunday workouts in the New Year. I’ve been investigating 10k training plans and this one on Runkeeper has :”3 miles + strides” once a week so it should work out nicely at least early on. Essentially, run 3 miles, then run at 95% effort for 20 seconds, then recover for 2 minutes. Repeat 5 times.
