DID IT!

That's what my 2-year old says when he accomplished something: I did it! I did it! Well, I did it too: 8 miler this morning! And not only did I do it, I did it fast! (for me, of course)

After my "failings" on Thursday, I decided to do the ultimate workout this morning. I would do my usual upper body strength training workout and follow that up with a long run at the 1/2 mile track outside the Wellness Center. The Wellness Center track is a meandering 1/2 mile asphalt track I ran on when I was in college. I usually run well here, maybe because of the memories.

I decided to check my split times today, something I rarely do for some reason. I don't know if it was because of the cold, but I ran the first mile WAY too fast for a long run (for me) - app. 8:00 min/mile. I slowed down and targeted 9 min/miles. To my surprise, I was able to pretty much maintain this throughout the run. I ran 6 miles in under 54 minutes - more than 2 minutes faster than I have done it before! I finished the run at 1:12:39 - about a 9:05 min/mile pace! I was really excited because this was a pretty good effort for me.

As I write this at 11:30 this evening, I don't feel any real soreness, just tired legs. I guess my lower back is a little sore. Overall I have a great feeling of accomplishment. For a good calorie deficit, I ran 8.5 miles on Thanksgiving day last year, but ran it almost a minute slower per mile than I did today.

The 5K Heart Run is exactly 8 weeks away. I have the feeling I should back off my long runs a little and target more speed workouts before then but I'm not really sure. I know the course is pretty flat so I don't have to worry about hills too much. Any suggesstions out there are welcomed!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!