Dixies Dashing Diary

Great day of rest, worship, rest, eating at Mimi's, and more rest.

We studied Pauls conversion experience on the road to Damascus. He encountered God in a very unique way. He was changed in a moment, having much more to learn, but was changed by the encounter. Too often today it seems people seek a religious experience but end up no different than before that experience. Left blind by the great light on the road, Paul spent the next three days in prayer & fasting. This was the beginning of his preparation for ministry...totally blind, totally dependent on God. Not a bad place to start. It seems way too often we consider ourselves wise and smart and not so much in need of God at all. It's well past time for us to get back on our knees, stop depending on what we see around us, and start seeking the One who can make us see clearly the things that really matter and the things which need to be changed.

I need to become as disciplined in my prayer & Bible study as I am in my running...

Ran with Mark this morning on our mini-hill neigborhood workout. We had a nice comfortable warm up and eased into the hills. Solid run, 6 church hill strides at the end. I did my last two barefoot which was fine other than the fact that the surface was much more rough than I thought so my left forefoot has like little blood blisters under the skin. I think I'll keep my shoes on unless I'm in my neighborhood or on softer surfaces (It seemed like the right thing to do at the time...).

Mark's total time was faster than mine and his distance farther. I'm not sure how that happened (I auto pause/resume my loaner Garmin, he starts & stops), but I'll put my results down just to stay on the conservative side.

Time: 6:42 am Total Time: 1:08:55 (8:00 avg)

Temp: 77 Humidity: 84%

Easy out and easy back.

Time: 5:58 am  Total Time: 58:11 (8:11 avg)

Temp: 76º  Humidity: 87%

Speed work today. Did one mile warm up, 5 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down. Tempo splits were as follows:

1. 7:17
2. 7:18
3. 7:18
4. 7:17
5. 7:16

The pace seemed fast but not strained. I had to stay focused to keep pace but it was a little like being in a grove. This is probably the closest my splits have ever been in a tempo by myself. I usually have trouble staying consistant. Warm up mile was close to 9 and cool down was around 8:30.

Time: 6:05 am   Total Time: 55:32 (7:46 avg)

Temp: 74º   Humidity: 96%

Recovery day from speedwork Wednesday. It actually felt good to go slow. I'm planning on a short run tomorrow with a friend who's just starting back running. That will give me a sixth day per week. We'll see how that works for a while.

Time: 5:53 am  Total Time: 58:36 (8:13 avg)

Temp: 77º  Humidity: 90%

Ran with Kelvin. He's just starting back running. We did a nice easy 3 miles and afterward did a walking cool down. Nice way to end the week.

Time: 6:00 am  Total Time: 28:48 (8:49 avg)

Temp: 80º  Humidity: 85%

Left from Long Leaf with Victoria, Jorge, Renee, and Katie. Wisely did our first two miles in 9 and 8:50 to give us a nice gradual warm up. We met up with David G and the Striders in the park. Most of the group had already left. Though I was scheduled to go 18 today, I felt really good, Renee & Katie were great company, so I just stayed with them and did 20.

We did a the last four miles all under 8 min. pace.

Thankfully the weather never played a limiting factor and my legs felt good the whole time. I really needed this run today as I was begining to get nervous about the "looong" runs in my training calendar. Today showed me that I really have no worries about the distance. Now I can just relax and work the plan these next 6 weeks.

Time: 5:29 am  Total Time:  2:44:52 (8:14 am)

Temp: 79º  Humidity:  87%