Today’s Run
Time – 42:53
Distance – 4.32 miles
Pace – 9:56 min/mi
Elevation – 167 ft.
Running can be good two days in a row, sometimes. Today, I went out with the intention to run and enjoy myself. As I ran, I just got faster and faster. In fact, I ran every mile faster than the one before. It was, actually, quite a lot of fun.
It Seems That Fitness Is Variable
It’s been a down couple of weeks. I’ve been getting faster, to be sure, but the runs haven’t always felt good. They didn’t feel as easy as I would like all the time, and speed felt like something that was a struggle. Running “fast” would really spike my heart rate. I couldn’t push the pace without having to suck wind and watch the heart rate rise to serious levels on the watch.
Then I got to the last few days. Yesterday, as a relatively easy run, was fun, relaxing, and something that went really well. My average pace was a lot better than I expected, but not too fast to burn up the gas in my tank. I was excited to be able to run like that on an easy day, but I didn’t think that I would be able to have two days like that.
Today, I went out and decided to push a little bit. I wanted to go out and do a little bit of speed on the run. I figured that it might hurt a bit, and I was prepared to make it a fartlek (fast running mixed in with some slow running; fartlek is Swedish for “speed play”). Nothing too fast for too long, but I wanted to see about making the heart rate go up to something above an easy run.
Fitness builds on itself, this much is obvious. It’s spiral that trends upward, with times that are down, and then it springs up to a new level. This was the fourth week of my training block, with the last three all including increases in mileage, so it has been a little slow in terms of workload, and, lo and behold, my fitness has jumped. I’m running faster, I think that I’ve got even more in me if I want it.
I’m going to keep building base, though. I need to work at adding more aerobic fitness. I need to continue to drop unnecessary weight (nothing drastic, I’d just like to lose some fat and add muscle at a total net loss…because no one has said that phrase ever…). And I need to keep believing that running will get better, and make my fitness better. Even when it’s down, the spring is contracting, and when it’s released, I’ll make another jump.
I Will Run Today 