Today my plan was to run some fast miles on the treadmill. The treadmill is really the best way for me to do fast miles, because it's hilly here and because it's too easy for me to let my mind wander and forget about paying attention to my pace. The gym is a mile from our house, so I use that mile as my warm up/cool down. I ended up heading out a little later than I had planned, but that worked out in my favor because there were plenty of treadmills to choose from. I hopped on a treadmill and started running at 8:00 mile pace (I consider that a fast pace at this point). I was going to run 3 miles at 8:00 pace, but I was struggling on my way to 2. That's what I get for skipping out on my weekday runs so often lately. I made myself hit 2 miles and then slowed down. I cranked it back up to 8:00 pace for another half-mile and felt like I had had enough. I stayed between 9:30-10:00 pace until I got to 3 miles total...but that still means I only ran 2.5 @ 8:00 pace. I pushed the "cool-down" button and let the treadmill slow down. While I walked, I reminded myself that I had planned on running 3 miles at 8:00 pace, not 2.5. So when the cool-down was over, I started the machine back up and knocked out that last half mile at 8:00. And you know what? It felt easy! I love being able to tell myself, "You can do this for 4 minutes". Slowed down for another half-mile and then ran the mile back home. On the way home, I saw tons of people. I didn't have my contacts in, but when I got closer I realized they were all teenagers. Maybe they were out walking for P.E. class? Most were in shorts & t-shirts but there were several girls with giant earrings, one girl wearing a short skirt, tights and cowboy boots, and another girl walking backwards and taking pictures of her friends with her camera phone! It's a beautiful day...cool but sunny. I hope it will be like this again tomorrow, because I want to run outside. Maybe 5 miles? This Saturday there is the monthly 5k at the gym. It doesn't start until 8, and usually I do my Saturday runs much earlier, but since this might be the last one they have before I move, I'm going to plan on running it.
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