8 happy miles.

It’s amazing how easily I can talk myself out of working out, as though I’m doing it for my own good. My back ached this morning from an assortment of activities the past couple days, and my obliques were sore from doing kettlebell windmills as part of my workout yesterday. My legs were a little tired feeling, probably due to lack of stretching yesterday.

I woke up at 8:15, ate a bagel with peanut butter, then lay in my bed planning a running route. Then I got lazy and by the time I was actually going to leave at 11 I was hungry again. I stood in my room trying to think if I should REALLY go running today when I was obviously in so much pain. Finally I told myself to shut up and get over it (we’re talking tired muscle ache, not injury pain) and took a chocolate Clif shot as a breakfast supplement.

By the time I got to the end of my block I knew I was fine and that I’d made the right choice. I zoomed through the first couple miles and by the time I got to the Brooklyn Bridge I saw I was averaging 10:02 miles! What?

I lost some speed on the hills of the bridge, ran around City Hall Park, then back over the bridge. Took a mocha Clif shot on the bridge and by the time I was back in Brooklyn my pace was still close to 10:30, even though I was stopping for short walk breaks as needed.

The end result was THRILLING. 10:36 average pace, plus my first mile in 9:15? I didn’t know I was capable of moving my body that fast for that long. I’d like it if my mile splits weren’t so all over the place, but consistency can be something to work on in the future. If I can maintain something close to this average pace, I can take about 10 minutes off my last half marathon time. 7 weeks til race day, I think I’ve got time to make that happen?

I also tested out what I think I’d like to wear on race day! I wasn’t super happy with my choice to wear all skintight clothes for half #1. It’s not that I was uncomfortable, but I did occasionally have to tug my shirt down when it rode up and there were some not-totally-flattering race photos. I thought I’d opt for a slightly more forgiving top for this race, and I’ve been on the hunt for a red tech tee to match my favorite capris. I found it yesterday at Marshall’s for $12 and it was surprisingly un-sweaty after 8.4 miles. Except for my back, which was drenched, but somehow doesn’t appear that way in the picture I took of it.

Runs like this make for all the bad ones, times a million.

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