Freethinker ~ Freerunner

I ran ten miles with Kevin this morning at 6:15.  I knew it was going to rain on us because severe weather warnings had been issued for our area all weekend.  Aside from a tornado that hit the Woodward area, most of northeastern Oklahoma seems to have been spared.  Of-course the heaviest part of the storm which included a massive down poor for about an hour and half coincided exactly with our run.  It must have started coming down a few minutes after we left and did not let up until a few minutes after we got back.

The best part about this is that I knew it was going to rain when I set out my shoes the night before.  My Ravena's had already been through a heavy rain run so naturally I wanted to use them again and save my 1260's, which had never been wet.  I don't know what happened, but we were about three miles out when I realized I was wearing the 1260's.  I must have grabbed them instead somehow in my haste to set out my gear last night.  So now my two current shoes have both been soaked through to the core.  I put the 1260's directly in front of a powerful fan as soon as I got home.  Hopefully I can dry them out quick and reduce some of the damage.  

I felt good on this run especially considering my already heavy 1260's were soaked making them even heavier, and I was running into heavy winds.  I am very pleased with my average moving pace of 7:45. 

I ran an easy three this morning.  My legs felt surprisingly fresh given my long run yesterday in the pouring rain.  

I ran an easy six this morning without taking any Gatorade with me.  I used to always take Gatorade with me if I was doing anything over three miles.  I'm not sure when I started pushing myself further distances without liquids, but I think it started about a year ago when Kevin told me about a study that was done on this matter.  I can't remember all the details and I certainly don't want to discount the importance of hydration, but the basic take away was that runners who drank less during workouts outperformed those to drank more.  I think they were using sports drinks in the study.   

I ran an easy seven this morning.  I am basically done with my week in running.  I have one more speed workout planned for Saturday, but since I have the next two days off it feels like the end of my running week.

I wore my new B.O.A. shorts today.  This is the second pair I have had of this brand.  I have to say they are the most comfortable running shorts that I own, although they are quite short.  I thought the first pair that I bought was short.  When I bought the second pair from Runningwarehouse.com I thought I was getting the same size, but after they arrived at my house and I tried them on it turns out they are even shorter.  I never would have worn shorts this short when I started running, but it is easy to see the benefit of a good pair of shorts after having run numerous fifteen milers in shorts with a less comfortable liner and overall fit.  The high split leg up the side allows for ease of movement like no other shorts I've ever owned.  They feel like you are wearing nothing. 

I've been running some form of speed training on Saturdays for the past couple of weeks now.  Today I tried a Runners World 5K speed workout for advanced runners, because I have a 5k race coming up on May 12th.  I think I might use this workout again once or twice before the race .  

1x800: 3:13

2x400's: 1:30, 1:32

4x200's: 0:49, 0:49, 0:46, 0:51

2x400's: 1:32, 1:32

I'm looking forward to my easy twelve tomorrow.  Kevin is in Texas so I will be running solo.