first of all i would just like to say that if weather.com is going to report a 1% (yes, 1%) chance of rain well i think most people would assume it's pretty much not going to rain. nope, definitely rained on me and my run. ...ok so it sprinkled, for a few minutes, in the beginning of my run, but still, it rained. liars.
i got a nike+ back in august/september-ish as an early birthday present from j. while it has it's quirks and can be irritating, today i realized just how much i do like it. i was not even a quarter-mile into my run and glanced down to find it wasn't recording my distance. i paused to start it up real quick but it wasn't syncing up to my sensor. then i realized, i never put my sensor in my shoe pouch, great. i couldn't turn back because j had gone for a run too and since he was running 6 miles (to my 8) he took the key since he'd be back first. so, i sucked it up and ran without it. granted, it's never been the most accurate, especially at races, but i like having it to know roughly how far i've gone on training runs.
today was to be my first tempo run/speedier run period since the marathon and i wanted to see my mile splits, but i had to do without. it wasn't too bad at first, but after awhile i started to feel tired, and i didn't have my nike+ to tell me how far i've already gone. i made a deal with myself to make it to 45 minutes at tempo pace and then i could pull back a bit and just finish the run. had i had my +, i would've been able to glance down, see how far along i was, talk myself into finishing that mile, and ultimately probably pushing myself along little by little. instead, i told myself i could ease up after 45 minutes, but when i got there i was cruising downhill and talked myself into 50 minutes. a small victory at least.
when i got home i stretched briefly (as always, it could've been better) and logged into map my run to see how far i ran. turns out i didn't do too bad for my first 'speed' day since the marathon, not knowing how far i'd gone, and not knowing my splits and whether or not to pick up the pace. i got in 6.4 tempo miles in 50:29 (7:53 avg pace). normally i aim for 7:41 or better, but i'm quite happy with today's run.
terri over at middle of the pack girl asked how my legs do all this running, no cross training and not fall apart, and to be honest i'm venturing into new territory with them. while i've been running fairly consistently since 2005, i only recently ramped my mileage up to ~40mpw in early 2007, and fluctuated for the rest of the year with 20-40 mile weeks. 2008 began and i still hopped on and off my own bandwagon, running 3-35 mile weeks. (yes, i ran a 3 mile week earlier this year! march, to be exact.) then came the olympics in august and i got motivated, plus i had to kick it in gear to get ready for goofy. since august, i've built my mileage back up to 40mpw and beyond. watching the olympics jump started me into getting serious about my running and i hope i can keep it up through the winter and coming years.
i've really hit a groove where i'm addicted to logging miles, although i've never been too content at recording my workouts any other way than running miles. i'm trying to stay smart and take it easy when my body starts hollering at me in order to prevent injuries and continue running. i'd rather take a few days off for prevention than get sidelined for a few months with injury. in the spring/summer/fall i'll bike to work a few days a week but i "can't" let that substitute for my running miles, my mentality is stubborn like that even though i know cross-training is just as good for you (and sometimes better). plus, i love how efficient running is at burning the calories i love to eat!
pm run: 8.4 miles, 1:08:10 (8:06 avg pace), avg/max hr (164/182)
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