Good week

Saturday's run: Out the door at 8 a.m. This is the second week in a row, I have run on a Saturday morning. Usually, I am at yoga at 9 a.m. but I've been trying a later class so I can run first.

I know lots of people run on Saturday mornings but it's something else to actually see so many runners in my neighborhood. Team in Training goes down a street near my house. I see their water coolers/stations and occasionally I see two people here and there. But Saturday, as I was heading out on my run, a group of 15 of them came running head on toward me. What a sight for a solo runner to see a group. They looked like they were having a good time. After the big group there were groups of 2 and 3 together. And I passed them all again on the way back in. Really great to see so many people out and running.

I like the solace of running alone but must admit it might be fun to run with one or two others for longer runs -- if I could ever find someone who runs my somewhat turtle pace.

I wanted to do 4 miles but I wasn't sure how it would go since I had changed up my schedule to have time with my sister visiting from GA. I felt good until I actually started to run. I realized my body was more tired that I expected.

I've been reading John Bingham's "The Courage to Start," and I liked a passage I saw the other day that said basically sometimes our mind needs a run but our body isn't up to it and other times our body is full-go and our mind just isn't into it. He talks about using our runner's wisdom to know when to press on and when not to.

So, as I started out I knew ultimately the goal was 4 miles but given the week I'd had maybe 2 would be the limit. After about a half-mile I was questioning doing more than 1 mile. Still, I trudged on, working on some basic ChiRunning focuses (posture and armswing) to help me keep going and fall into a rhythm. After the first half mile, I felt a twinge in my ankle (where I almost had a stress fractured that stopped me cold for 4 weeks). So I paid attention to that very carefully. I decided to give myself another half mile. If it was better, great. If it wasn't, walk home.

I made a slight adjustment and everything was fine. At 1.5 miles I turned around just in case. I figured 3 miles would be good enough. But as I cruised to 2.5 I knew I had the other mile left in the tank. So I got my 4 in.

I was more tired than the last two runs, but I was feeling good overall. I felt like I was slogging y and expected to see splits in the 12:15 range but they actually faster than either of the last two runs (about 11:40). Surprise. Surprise.

Total for the week 3, 6, 4 = 13 miles
Total weight loss in 3 weeks = 5 lbs.

It's time, though, to dial it down this week for a recovery week. I'm not very good with those, but I also can feel my body needs it. I'm really hoping that my inner wisdom can overpower my Type A "more miles" mantra. Wish me luck.