I didn’t dwell on the discomfort, and I hit the driveway and knocked out the 80 push ups I set out to do. About half-way through, I did feel some soreness in my arms and back, but I pushed through and got to 80 without too much difficulty. Then, I literally just got up and started running.
I set out with an easy pace, or at least what I thought was easy. I was expecting a 10 minute/mile pace, but it ended up being 8:58/mile for the first mile. The second mile was close with 9:09/mile pace, and the third and final mile ended up with 9:36/mile for an average of 9:13/mile. I’ll take it. My goal was sub-9:30/mile, so this was good.
My legs were a bit stiff and sore, but my breathing was just fine. I was surprised at how easy my heart and lungs were taking it while my legs were, predictably, sore throughout the run. At no point did they hurt enough to make me want to stop, but they were, indeed, sore. I’m glad tomorrow is a rest day. Friday will come too soon.
As I was running, I was thinking back to how we were whipped into shape in Marine Corps Boot Camp. We started with short runs every other day. We always had a rest day after our runs to help our muscles heal and rebuild before going back out to run some more. I think it’s why my plan of running every other day has been working so well; I give my muscles time to rebuild.
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