A couple of good runs

Day 2 of the morning runs did not happen. I woke up in time to run on Thursday but felt like I'd been hit by a truck. So I waited 15 minutes thinking I might feel better. Then waited another 15 mins and another. I finally called in to my boss and said I was just starting to feel alive and would be in by 9 or so. I finally made it in at 10:15 and never ran.

I decided to try to run in the evening if I felt better at the day's end. I headed out about 6 p.m. in rain and high humidity for a 2-mile run. I walked for 10 minutes to start while it poured on me and then as soon as I started running, the rain stopped. Figures. But I felt good and the run turned into a 3-miler. So overall, good.

This morning's run was my first 5-miler since I had my back issue last November. I wasn't really concerned about the mileage because I've been building my distance very slowly and conservatively after the back issue in November. I was a little concerned how my back would feel this morning as the Colonel and I started some serious yardwork. I pulled weeds in the main front yard flower bed and spread about 15 large bags of mulch, and my back felt it.

I made sure to spend 10 minutes on my inversion table, which seemed to help. As did a couple of Advils. I woke up this morning feeling fine.

The goal was to run slowly -- 11:15 to 11:30 miles. I like doing an LSD run every week with the idea of building new capillaries to carry oxygen better and make running even easier. But it's a challenge because I just don't have good control of my speed. But I was determined to slow down.

The day was spectacular -- about 60-something degrees, no humidity, beautiful sunshine, no wind. Just pefect.

I started off very slowly and the first mile was even slower than I'd planned at 11:45. I was paying attention to my back and was willing to turn around and head home if there was an issue.
But the back felt great.

Now, I told myself, stay slow because I always do well on Mile 1 but then speed up all of the sudden without even knowing it.

Mile 2 -- 11:00. Too fast. S-l-o-w d-o-w-n.

Mile 3 -- 10:52! What?! What part of slow down don't you understand? I actually walked 1 minute just to force myself to slow down. I thought maybe if I walked a minute, I could find the slower pace.

Mile 4 -- 11:20. OK, that's good. Oh, but wait, I walked 1 minute, so it's almost like a 10:40 or so. Crazy. But I was enjoying the run even though I knew I wasn't going as slow as I'd like.

Mile 5 -- 11:00. Good enough.

I'm just glad to have gotten 5 miles in with no discomfort anywhere. No pain is always Goal 1. I did feel my right ankle at one point, but I just made a micro change and focused on my mid-foot landing and all was right again.

Not only did I get 5 miles in but then I put in 4 more hours in the yard with the Colonel. I pulled what seemed like 1,000 weeds, (I'm serious), and spread nearly 30 big bags of mulch. I was exhausted afterward. But the back held up really well.

Hopefully, I'll feel good in the morning for an easy 3 miles before we head to two different graduation brunches. Brunch? Anyone ever heard of graduation brunch before?