September Wrap- Up

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Wow. September is over. Fall is here. Where did my summer go? Actually, as sad as I am about having to put the sandals and the tank-tops away I'm not missing the humidity and the heat. I think the weather was having a huge impact on my running. The beginning of this month was horrible. Running was hard. I felt sluggish. I couldn't get used to my new gym routine. I worried that I'd never beat my previous 8K race time.

But, the past week has been different. I don't know if it's because I found confidence after my race on Sunday. I don't know if it's the weather. I don't know if it's because I know I only have a few weeks left of my current gym schedule. All I do know is that I think I'm on the verge of a major running break through.

Although my total mileage for the month of September was only 53.42 (third lowest monthly mileage since I started keeping track) I managed to run my past two training runs at close to my 8K race pace PR!

I really hope I can keep this trend going through October. It might be difficult since I'm traveling twice for work but we'll see. Last night's run gave me hope that I may reach my goal of having 9:00 minute miles be my easy run pace sooner rather than later. I did 4.8 miles last night and, without even really trying, hit under 9 minutes per mile for three of those miles. And that's WITH stopping at intersections. My form felt great and my breathing didn't feel labored. I probably could have done even better if my tummy hadn't been acting up. Although, there's probably nothing to make you speed home faster than needing to use the toilet!

So, yeah, September. You started out horrible but I licked you in the end. Now I'm eyeing you, October. What do you have in store for me?

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Stats from last night's run

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 628 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/30/09 Up/Downhill: [+82/-82] Time: 06:41 PM Difficulty: 2.0 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 4.81 miles Time: 0:43:41 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 05 /mi Calories: 571 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 11 +0' 06 6.5 -0.1 +4 ft 2 8' 45 -0' 20 6.8 +0.2 +10 ft 3 8' 52 -0' 13 6.8 +0.2 0 ft 4 8' 55 -0' 10 6.7 +0.1 -10 ft end 9' 25 +0' 20 6.4 -0.2 -3 ft Versus average of 9' 05 min/mile

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