Good run

The temperature was 47 degrees. Not 50 as predicted, but close enough. I jumped in the car and headed to my favorite park. So had a million other people. The park was packed. There were runners, walkers, cyclists, dog walkers, rollerbladers and just people everywhere. I had to park on the back side of the park. It didn’t matter. I was ready for a run in the sun.

As all runners know, there are good running days and bad running days. This was a good running day. Only one layer of running clothes, not three, no gloves, my new super lightweight shoes and some new tunes on my mp3 player.

I ran a rather fast first mile, then slowed down a little. I was just out for a run, not a race, although there were enough runners on the trails to make it feel like a race. At mile 4, the troublesome hip felt a little tight, but there was no pain. That gave me the motivation to up the pace a little. I had set out to run 7 miles and at 7.05 miles, I slowed down to a shuffle and then walked back to my car. The hip still felt pretty good.

Today I’ll be heading back to the park for an 8 mile run. Each day a little father, but only a little. When I hit 10 miles, I will up the distance by half miles and not whole miles like I did before. I should be able to make 14 miles by the end of the month. And then it’s just a week until the big race - 13.1 miles. Can I do it?

Stats:

7.05 miles, 1:06 minutes, 9:25 pace