In a rare occurrence, my children were ready for school in time for me to drop them off and then to get in a five-mile run on Forbidden Drive. I arrived at Valley Green a little after 8 a.m., and began my run shortly thereafter:
The air was cool, though not as cool as on Tuesday, but this may have been due to the later hour. The sky was clear.
I began my run quickly. Since I was only running five miles, I decided to experiment. I began, perhaps unwisely, at a faster pace than usual and completed the first mile in just under 10 minutes. I then attempted to maintain that pace, but I quickly realized that I was going to need to slow down. I ended up running the next three miles in slightly more than 11 minutes. Yet my speed for the fourth mile is slightly misleading: my right shoe had accumulated a number of pebbles, so I had to stop for about a minute to empty it out. Without the pebbles, I probably could have run the mile in 10 minutes. I ran the last full mile in under 9-1/2 minutes.
I’m not accustomed to pushing myself as I run. I haven’t been doing so because I’ve focused recently on losing weight. Running faster--which for me means running anaerobically--doesn’t contribute much to this goal. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to challenge myself. I’m at the point in which I need to spend time feeling what it’s like to push myself when I make a conscious effort to do just that. I can then concentrate on the sensations in my legs as I run faster than might otherwise be comfortable. Of course, I’ve been doing so only for two minutes at a time, but I’m hoping that, over time, I’ll become more comfortable running at a faster pace. (Obviously, weight loss will help with that.)
No comments:
Post a Comment