Wow; I did not expect this, but I ended up having the fastest 5k run time yet since I started running in September 2016. Sure, I was faster when I was younger and on active duty in the Marines, but as a 50-year old guy who has been running for just over a year, this is a big accomplishment for me, and I am happy about it!
The funny part is that I wasn’t really wanting to run today. I even told Sherry as I was getting ready that I kinda wanted to skip the run because I really just wasn’t feeling it. When I turned on the run setting on my Garmin Fenix 3, I was even a little perturbed when it acquired signal so quickly which meant I didn’t have much time to think about the run before it was time to hit the pavement.
When I started my run, I began with my usual 4/4 breathing pattern but quickly changed over to a 3/3 as I wanted to run faster. I was able to stay comfortable with the 3/3 for the duration of the run. Another thing different today; Strava was telling me my pace every three minutes. The first time it told me I was running 8 minutes flat, I decided to do my best to keep that pace. It ended up working, for the most part. I ran my first mile in 8:01, and I kept it up with an 8:07 for the second mile and an 8:10 for the third mile. The last 1/10 of a mile (to make it 5 km) was slower at an 8:44/mile pace, but I was pretty burned out in the last quarter of a mile.
My legs are pretty tired, but there’s no bad pain. It’s just, “You just worked HARD” pain, which is good. Now, I’ll take the next day or two off from running before picking it back up either Friday after work or Saturday morning. Even then, I’m going to try to make it an easy run. But we all know how that goes; every time I plan on an easy run, I end up kicking it up and running like mad.
Sometimes, the hardest part of running is getting psyched up to do it. This time, it was definitely the case.
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