Yes! Early morning run! It was absolutely gorgeous out this morning, probably about 70 degrees with the sun just barely starting to light up the horizon when I left. It was actually very nice to have a little bit of light to allow me to better see where I was running. It was also nice that there were quite a few people on the canal bank running, even though I wasn't running with them. I started off very easy, around 9:00 pace, to warm up my muscles, and slowly picked it up. Once I warmed up, the pace progressed to sub-8:00 pace, and felt very good. First mile was 8:00 on the nose. Second mile was mostly on the canal bank (packed dirt) and ended up being 7:37. This mile felt a little more difficult, but overall very good. Third mile was also mostly on the canal bank, and I unintentionally picked up the pace even a little more - third mile was 7:27. Once I hit the 3 mile split, I consiously slowed down a bit to get in control and slow down my breathing, which wasn't really bad, but was a little bit labored. The fourth mile ended up being 8:01. Average pace for the run was 7:46/mile.
On a side note, I have decided to start drinking a couple of slimfast (generic) shakes in the morning - one when I leave for work, and another a couple hours later. I am hoping this will help me to eat healthier in the morning while getting enough calories to keep me going, and allow me to drop the extra weight that I have been carrying. I REALLY want to get back down to about 170 and stay there. | 