8 more miles

I did my 8 miles this AM at the park. I got there later than I had planned, around 9:30 and the place was already filling up with runners, walkers, bikers, dog people, and the disc golf folks. Everyone was trying to get in the last few nice days left. Been getting colder and colder lately.

I actually got up at 6:30, but had some delays getting out of the house. I thought of Susan when I looked out at the pitch black outside (its darker here in the AM because we are on the edge of the time zone). I had the hardest time convincing myself that it was ok to run in the dark. I tried to think of where my headband was for my maglight, and if it would actually stay on my head while I ran. I tried NOT to think about Chris getting up at 4:00 AM and already heading back for his shower by this time. Then I got delayed so it didn’t matter.

This was another pretty good run. I had a regular breakfast this time but it was a few hours before the run. Here’s the times:

Mile time
1 8:58
2 8:51
3 8:48
4 9:08
5 9:18
6 8:52
7 8:50
8 8:43

Total time 1:11:33, 8.0 miles, average pace 8:56/mile. For those in metrically diverse countries, that’s 12.9 km, 5:33/km pace.

I did pretty good keeping the pace even in miles 4 and 5. I remember feeling sore in mile 5. My left shin was getting tight. The knee too, a little, but they both worked themselves out. My shins were a little sore after the run. I had to walk a mile back to the truck because of how the loop went. It was a nice cool down but a little farther than I wanted to go.

Once again, though, this is faster than I wanted to go. Yes, I like that I was able to keep up the pace, but I’m concerned that I’m taking the long runs too fast. And yes, one might be thinking “Duh, Jon-idiot, then slow the heck down.” But I can’t seem to keep that slower pace right. I tend to the fast pace now. When I go slower I find myself getting very, very slow. And I also tend to stoop. I end up looking down too much and then I realize I am running almost hunched over. I found that looking slightly up keeps my shoulders up higher.

Had my chocolate mile with cinnamon waiting for me in the truck when I got back. And a banana. And I had a gel with watered-down gatorade on my long walk back.

Now I get to mow the lawn! Yeah! Don’t worry, its a riding mower, which is ALOT more fun. Pictures of poison ivy later today.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 26th, 2004 at 11:48 am and is filed under Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.