WOW,haven't posted in a while. Not because I haven't been running, just been lazy. Did skip 2 runs when I was in NY, but other than that I have been running on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday like usual. I tried out a new running app called iSmooth Run. I like it, but I still think Nike+ is the best. I wish the two of them could run together, one in the front and one in the background. I tried running Nike+ in the background with iSmooth in the front and Nike+ stopped recording after about .25 mile. I find that odd. I'll try again on Tuesday to see if I can get it to work. Sometimes when Max plays with my phone he opens a dozen apps and they eat up memory.
Last nights run was great. Not sure why though. Normally on Sunday, I do my "long run". Last week I ran 4 miles on Sunday, which for me, is a long distance. For others, that's merely their warmup. I only ran 2 miles last night. I got a call from Donna and started out late and didn't want to stay out running till 9:30 in order to finish 4 miles. So I cut my workout in half and did a brisk 2 mile run.
What's funny to me in perception. I felt like I was running pretty quickly last night. Yet my time wasn't dramatically better. But what I did notice was that my pace was VERY consistant. I think when I struggle, I slow down and then have to run much quicker to get back on pace and I burn myself out. During last nights run, I never felt winded, I never felt hot, I didn't get super sweaty. It wasn't a super humid night, which Im sure helped. Hopefully as the weather turns cooler as we get closer to Autumn, my runs will continue to feel "easy".
I noticed that my running form was pretty bad last week. Sometimes I feel like I am running in place. So last night, I tried to stride a little more to propel myself further with each step. Perhaps that is also part of the equation. Ironically, I ate McDonalds for dinner last night. Sometimes when I eat poorly, I feel like crap when I run. Last night was the opposite. I noticed when I was playing with Max after dinner that I felt very energetic. Then I talked on the phone with Donna and felt a little bit of that energy go away. But once I got out there and started running, it came back to me. I got that feeling of "happy feet" a few times as I ran when a good song came on. My last two runs, I ran around the same pace, but felt winded trying to keep that pace up. This run was just the opposite, I felt really strong and didn't feel winder or like I was overexerting myself.
I also extended my route around the neighborhood a bit. I found that if I turn down off of Trentdale I can run down one of the side streets, cut over and up and come back out on Trentdale. By doing this, and continuing out onto Hoadley and Dale Blvd, I make it an almost two mile loop. Before when I just ran down Trentdale straight, it would require me to do 3-3.5 loops to do 4 miles. Now with this new path, it's closer to 2. Sort of a mental thing. I find that running the same path over and over gets boring and repetitive. So if I can only run it twice and get 4 miles in, score! I hit mile 1 just about the time when I get to the hill to go up Trentdale and only Hoadley. Perfect place for a break :-).
I ran my first mile in 10:15 and then did a brief walk for about a minute. I could have kept running, but initially I was going to try to do 1 mile, walk 1 X 4. I finished my 2nd mile in 10:34, which is really good considering I walked for about .15 of a mile.
Sunday, August 28th, 2011
Distance Run: 2 miles
1st Mile: 10:15
2nd Mile: 10:34
Total Time: 20:57
Calories Burned: 211
