Freethinker ~ Freerunner

I ran what was supposed to be a 2 hour run that ended up taking me 2:08:28.  The reason it took longer is because I intended on negative splitting, but because I went out too fast that did not happen.  My average pace was 7:47, which I'm not completely unhappy with, but I do need to work on getting that pace closer to 7:15 to 7:25 for this distance on a semi vigorous training run as I did today.  It felt a little warm today at 62 at 6:05 this morning when I started.  It was sunny and had warmed about 70 by the time I finished.  I got into an ice bath after I finished, but I was only able to stay in for about 3 minutes.  My feet were going numb, but hopefully that three minutes helped my muscles out enough so that I can hit it hard this week before tapering slightly next week.   

Good speed work today.  I ran 6 800's in an average of about 3:14.  I ran one warmup mile and one cool down mile.  My legs are feeling pretty good, although my calves are still feeling just a bit sore.  

Splits:

3:08

3:04

3:04

3:09

3:04

3:07

Easy run today at average pace of 7:49.  I think my actual pace was somewhat faster than this because my Garmin was acting funny for the first quarter mile.  It took it a long time to find my pace.  It slowly came down from 42 minutes per mile.  By the time I think it was reading my position accurately I think it had not actually tracked my first few tenths of a mile.   

My calves feel a little sore from yesterday 800's, but otherwise I feel good.  It was really hot this morning too.  Over 70 degrees when I started.  I should have gotten up before sun up, but I was watching the final episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine last night and did not get to be early.  

I clocked a new PR at one of my favorite races.  The Full Moon 5K is a Saturday night race that is very popular.  Probably because there is always a good band and unlimited beer after the race.  The band this year was Rock Show, which is a Journey Tribute band.  They were freaking awesome.  I joked that they might even be better than Journey.  I was singing along to the lyrics 'I'll be alright without you,' and having my self a great time. 

I really love this race for the course if self.  It is fast and flat.  It has been one of my goals for about 9 months to break the 20 minute mark.  Since I don't participate in very many races I probably could have hit this goal a little sooner, but I did it tonight and I am happy.

Official time: 19:34

Division Place: 9 of 111

Gender Place: 54 of 929

Running with a Garmin helps tremendously when going for a time goal.  I stuck to my plan of running slightly faster than the pace I knew it would take to beat 20 minutes.  My splits at 6:11, 6:19, and 6:21 were spaced no more than 10 seconds apart.  Being able to run at my goal pace early on and not go out too fast was key.