Week 7, Run 1

Much better.

After last Friday’s debacle of a finish in my four-mile run, I resolved not to let my focus slip today so my time wouldn’t suffer again.

Of course, my legs might have had other ideas about that, since they were still a bit sore from Sunday’s eleven-miler, and the muscles in my upper legs were still feeling the effects of getting more use than usual, on account of me adjusting my form to lift my knees higher.

Still, I felt pretty good overall since I managed to get to bed quite a bit earlier than normal and thus had a good night’s sleep for a change.

I also tried to use the new form from the outset. I think it does make a difference, since I posted a time of just under 5:20 for my first split, which is the fastest I’ve recorded. And though I was right at seven minutes for the second segment, which was a little shy of my previous best, I think I did better at maintaining form up the large hill. It was on that incline in particular that I could really feel the difference in terms of which muscles hadn’t been getting so much work in earlier runs, since it takes a lot more effort from the upper legs to lift the knee and leg higher. This probably goes a long way toward explaining why my lower legs, especially my calves, have always been pretty strong, whereas I don’t know that the same is true of my thighs.

Anyway, I managed to make good time the rest of the way. I was right at twenty minutes for 2.5 miles, and then hit my last split at roughly twenty-seven minutes. At that point I knew I had to maintain concentration and not allow myself to slow over the final half-mile or so, and instead I focused on trying to run even faster, since I was nearing the finish and still had quite a bit left in the tank. Since I didn’t have an iPod to blare uptempo music, I tried instead to think fast thoughts. It sounds stupid, but it actually seemed to work. And in any event, I managed to shave more than half a minute off my previous record at this distance, so I was quite pleased.

It definitely has me feeling pretty good this morning, which is impressive considering optimism and good cheer might be hard to come by in a couple of hours or so when I get a stack of seventy or so midterms to grade.

But the combination of a good night’s sleep and a good, hard run to start my morning definitely have lifted my spirits. It’s also a nice way to kick off this week’s training, since this is the week my mileage peaks before tapering off so my body gets fully rested in preparation for the half-marathon.

Today’s stats:

• Distance run: 3.98 miles
• Time: 30:13
• Average speed: 7.9 mi/h
• Average pace: 7:34/mi
• Calories burned: 570