Every Race is an Adventure!

4 mi @ 10:34/mi

I felt like I was pushing at 10K race effort to run 10:34/mi, but I'm thrilled to be able to run 4 miles with as little pain as I did this morning. My left ankle is still a little weak and sore but it held up well. It felt good enough that I decided to push my cardio and mental toughness this morning. I think I did okay.

I've been praying for healing for a long time. This morning I specifically prayed to not step on anything that would roll my ankles. God reminded me recently that I should not pray necessarily that my adversity be taken away, but for the strength and courage to endure well, work hard to overcome the adversity to the best of my ability, and learn all that I can from it.

4 miles @ 10:13/mi

I ran the first mile in 10:07 then stopped to drive the carpool to school. Immediately after, I ran the next three miles with splits of 9:53, 10:37, and 10:15. The last couple of miles had some stretches of moderate uphill. I maintained steady effort throughout. I'm quite satisfied with this run, and thrilled to be able to run again. 

As I've been trying to recover and get back into running I've mostly been running alone...going to short and too slow and too unpredictable to run with anyone else. I've been looking forward to a "normal" morning run with the gang. Wayne and Kevin were out of town this morning, but I did get to run 5 miles with Larry, Jolene, and Joe Judd...a grandma and 3 grandpas. At 52, I was the youngest one there.

I thought it would be enjoyable to get back into gang running, but...I completely underestimated how much I would enjoy it! It was like a hug and a home-cooked meal from Mom. I felt like I was home again.

The weather was a little chilly to begin with, but the sun was out and it warmed up. The conversation was good, intermixed with some huffing and puffing. We ran 5 miles @ 10:26/mi, which was pushing it a little at this point for all of us old fogies. It was just the right balance of gallop and gab.