Sunday, March 29, 2009

Taking it in Stride

Today I ran the Heart Mini. Leading up to it I toyed with the thought of running with someone else and just running at their pace. Just have fun. About a week and a half prior I really practiced hills up at Red Bird Hollow. I destroyed myself anticipating the Heart Mini's climb up Torrence Avenue.

So during the race I once again thought about running with someone. I forgot my Nike + which serves as my speedometer. I saw an acquaintance early but realized that (after hearing their breathing) that I best be on my own. Like one does in a bike race, I targeted someone performing aggressively that I felt I could match their tempo even if it is above my comfortable range. I did this most of the race. I am very happy to say I dropped them as we climbed Torrence. I was so happy I felt so good. I crossed the finish with an average pace of 8:02 per mile! I never trained that hard, but then it was winter. Also, I had that weird sensation where my legs did not want to stop running — I walked awkwardly across Fountain Square.

To sum up, I feel like just when I began to loath running the Heart Mini provided me with such a great experience I have to say that I have fallen in love again. To accomplish your goal, and to perform better than imagined, I'm running on air!

No comments:

Post a Comment