More Running

Again, let me start this post by stating that it totally escapes me as to why someone would enjoy pounding away every day on the road running for fun. I don't enjoy coming home and icing up my shin so it won't hurt the next day. Maybe I'll feel different about it after my first 5k.

Last night I ran 1/4 a mile after a good warm up when my key fell on the dark road surface. I looked around for a while and then jogged back to the house to retrieve a flash light. I restarted my heartrate monitor, and ran back to find my key. After looking for a minute or two I found it and continued my run. I ran the first mile at a 10 min pace which included the key hunting. The second mile and third miles were run at 8:30 pace. This put me at a total of 27 minutes for the 5k. Take away the extra 1/2 mile due to the key incident and the minute or two spent looking for the key while on the clock. I'm calling this one a 25:30 5k. My goal stands as a vague "somewhere below 25 min" for the actual event.

Next week I'll run two miles at 7:30 min pace to see if I think I can gut out 5k at that pace. Depending on how competitive I feel at the race I may push myself. In the back of my mind, I'll be reminding myself that I want to be able to walk the next day and shaving a few minutes of a run to beat other weekend warriors is not worth the pain.

Stats:
177 Average Heartrate
5k in 27 minutes adjusted to 25:30 minutes
(based on to key search and 8:30 pace on mile 2 and 3.)
Right shin and upper ankle needed ice afterwards. I've run 12 miles in a week with no base and it shows. Ice did the trick, no pain this morning.