Today was one of those days when I woke up and didn’t want to do anything. I lingered in bed, then I lingered on the toilet. Then, I lingered in the kitchen making breakfast, then I lingered over my email. I was down on a lot of stuff – the USF loss, the Buccaneers loss, my run on Saturday, my lack of progress on my dissertation defense, etc. In short, I wanted to crawl right back in bed and try to sleep my problems away….not that any of them were really big problems. It was one of those mornings that I really didn’t want to run, but I knew that I’d feel a lot better if I did. So, I headed out the door.
It really was a beautiful morning. I walked for a half mile, took a deep breath and started into my run. My goal was to run the first mile in about 9:15. I knew from experience that if I just let myself fall into a natural rhythm, I’d hit that pace. It turns out, I was faster. I ran the first mile in 8:38. As soon as I hit the lakefront park, I felt myself straighten up. My arms moved in perfect rhythm with my legs. My breathing was easy. I was warmed up and in a groove. I cruised around the lake, running the 2nd mile in 7:32. At that point, I was a little winded, but I was able to slow my pace slightly and push through the last mile. I had to stop twice for traffic to pass on two main streets, so it was a little disappointing to finish my 3 miles in 24:01. I sprinted out the last tenth of a mile at 5:02 pace, but to no avail. I was smiling, though. I still made my goal of 8:15 miles and I had a new outlook on the day.
Planned workout
8 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:15 pace
8 minutes cool down
Actual workout
8 minutes warmup
3 miles at 8:01 pace
8 minutes cool down