One Of My Best Miles Ever

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I have run the past six days and was thinking about taking today off.  I have been feeling really good lately and the running has been almost completely positive.  Since I ran 6 miles yesterday morning before work, I decided that if I did run today I would only do a couple miles.

I woke up at 4:55 this morning (yea, I slept in for an extra 10 minutes!) and rolled out of bed.  I took my time getting ready and prepared because I would only need < 20 minutes to run since I was only going 2 miles.  During this time I tried talking myself out of running telling myself it was only 2 miles and why bother..... but I knew better.... it was 2 miles and I did need to bother because 2 miles is 2 miles, and I need to be happy that I can call it "only 2 miles" since the majority of people cannot run even 1 mile.  I did end up running.

This is one of the down sides to not having a goal or a specific race that I am training for.  Yes, I have some races on the horizon but nothing like a marathon or half marathon that actually has me on a training plan.  I do not have a training plan that I am following right now and sometimes it can be difficult to stay focused.

I put on my new Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC's and headed out the door.  I decided part way through the first warm up/easy mile that I would run the second mile at a near 5k race pace.  When I hit the mile marker I made the turn and started to speed up.  I didn't look at my watch one time during the run, but I knew based on my stride that I was moving pretty good and I figured I was running in the low 7's.  It is funny how these shoes feel different and if I wasn't crazy I would say they even make me faster (now I am starting to sound like my 8 year old son)

I finished up the mile and hit my watch.  I looked down in amazement when I saw the second mile had clocked in at 7:01, one of my best miles ever.  I only remember timing myself on the mile one other time where I was actually lower then that and that was a 6:50ish pace and I remember almost dying after running that.  This morning when I finished that second mile I felt pretty good and within a few steps felt like I always do following a good run.  I wasn't breathing so heavy that I was waking the neighborhood dogs and cats.  I was very excited and look forward to putting two of those miles together sometime soon.

So, have you ever swore that one pair of shoes made you run faster than another pair?  Or, maybe it is the other way around, have you ever swore that one pair of shoes slowed you down?  What do you feel about running with or without a running plan or goal, does it affect your training/running or do you just feel a sense of freedom?

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Tim Wilson - blog.262quest.com - subscribe - follow blog - virtual4now