F(or) T(he) W(in)

Last night when I got home from running with my running group Jason asked me how my run went.

"Good," I told him. "Really good."

I think that was the first time in awhile I could say that after a Monday night run. I'm not saying I haven't had good Monday night runs recently, but last night was the first time in a long time that I was able to push myself and run like I did in the spring.

I know I've pretty much thrown the pace portion of my training plan out of the window, but last night I actually hit my tempo paces. Goal? 5 miles at 9:05. Actual? 5.5 miles at 9:07.

It was awesome.

What made the difference? I don't know. Maybe it was the leftover Thai food I had for lunch. Maybe it was the fact that that the sun was hiding behind the clouds the entire time. Maybe it was Maribeth and I pushing each other for the first 3 miles. Maybe my brain finally realized that tempo runs are supposed to be difficult so, as Kim likes to say, I should nut up and shut up.

Although, honestly, I think it was the slight adrenaline rush I got around mile 3.5 that helped push me through. We were running down the street when I saw a woman walking a small dog and a larger dog all up in the small dog's business. At first I thought they were both her dogs but it became obvious to me that the larger dog was not on a leash and the woman was starting to panic. She picked up her small dog and began yelling "Hey! Your dog is loose!"

I swooped over off the street onto the sidewalk, grabbed the larger dog's collar, and shoved it through the open gate from which I figured it had escaped. As I slammed the gate shut I got a glimpse of larger dog's owner and heard him calling the dog's name. I just swerved off the sidewalk and back onto the street and kept running.

Erin's Dog Corralling Business at your service.





At that point I left Maribeth behind (sorry!) and was right on the heels of another group of people. While I was looking forward to the water stop at the park at mile 4, I almost didn't want to break my stride. When we started back up after using the drinking fountains it took me a little bit to get back into the groove I'd found. Thankfully, it reappeared and it felt good.

Last night was one of those runs that remind you why you run. You're flying. You can feel your heart pounding but your legs are doing their own thing. You feel alive and full of energy.

It's a good feeling.

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Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 628 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 08/02/10 Up/Downhill: [+22/-19] Time: 06:33 PM Difficulty: 2.1 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 5.42 miles Time: 0:49:26 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 07 /mi Calories: 639 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 57 -0' 10 6.7 +0.1 0 ft 2 8' 55 -0' 12 6.7 +0.1 -9 ft 3 9' 17 +0' 10 6.5 -0.1 +3 ft 4 9' 10 +0' 03 6.5 -0.0 +7 ft 5 9' 07 +0' 00 6.6 -0.0 0 ft end 9' 04 -0' 03 6.6 +0.0 +3 ft Versus average of 9' 07 min/mile

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