Six Mile Saturday Slog

Posted by Steve ()

December 29, 2007

Decided to get out for an early run today (like the good old days) and planned to get in at least 5 steady miles. I read last night that the temperature would be in the mid 60′s by lunchtime, but listening to the wind howling outside as I got dressed, I feared for something a lot cooler. I layered up on top, but that turned out to be a mistake. Luckily, however, I only wore shorts on the bottom (I’ll only wear running tights/pants when it’s less than 30°F).

Setting off in the dark I had no grand illusions for a fast first mile. I wasn’t disappointed – it was an 8:06. No problem though, this was supposed to be an easy, steady run to start building up the miles in my legs. The second and third miles were into a stiff wind (according to my MotionBased stats, the wind was anywhere from 18.4 to 21.9mph), but I managed to speed up a bit – 7:27 and 7:32 respectively.

I could have headed for home at this point but decided on a slight detour to make the run up to 6 miles. My legs still felt sluggish and my breathing labored, but I kept reminding myself that this is the early stages of rebuilding my fitness and it’s supposed to feel like this. I also reminded myself it’s my own fault for having such a slack post Thanksgiving period of training.

By now it was daylight and with the temperature a crazy 68°F I was starting to feel hot. I stripped off the top layer, tied it around my waist and picked up the pace a little. The last mile was a real effort but I managed to duck under seven minutes and record a 6:54.

So, another 6 miles in the bank and another step in the right direction to get my fitness back on track. I’m going to follow this run with the first workout of week 2 in the Essential Abs program. I’ll try and post more details later on.

Have a great weekend and be safe in your running adventures, whatever and wherever they may be….