I Feel GOOD!

OBJECTIVE
9 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
9.01 mi. : 1:10:50 = 7:52/mi.

6:06 AM 43° 87% 1 mph

Today was a GOOD run. There really wasn't really reason for it that I know of and I certainly didn't see it coming. It surprised me so much that I kept expecting to fade as the run progressed but "it" was there the whole time.

I was out of bed early this morning but slow to get going. It was cool this morning and I wasn't really that eager for this morning' run. By the time I made it over to the Y, ChampionsFit was gathering for their "unofficial long run" scheduled for 10 miles. I didn't want to have anything to do with them (long story) and was happy that I didn't see anyone that I knew while stretching in the parking lot. I let there band of about 20 set off while I was still stretching. I don't know how much time passed but it was a while before I started. Their group includes runners of all paces going all distances. I'm sure by now you're anticipating what happened .... As I began reeling them in, my pace quickened as I looked for more. My first mile was 8:16 - about 30 seconds faster than I'd planned. I started thinking I'd be in trouble later in the run for this fast start. Of course the faster runners were still ahead. I don't know why I had something to prove but it seems that I did. Second mile - 7:46. I had passed them all. Now I was sure I'd be hurting later. But I figured I was around 8:00 miles and was feeling pretty good. Even though this was supposed to be a long, slow distance run (my longest since before Thanksgiving), I decided I'd try to hold the 8 minute pace for as long as I could.

Mile 3 - 8:05
Mile 4 - 8:09

I was still feeling fine. Legs felt good and cardio was strong. I turned around at 4.5 miles. I had not planned on seeing the CF group again but obviously since it's out and back, I was going to. I started pushing it a bit because I wanted to pass them as far back the path as I could.

Mile 5 - 8:13
Mile 6 - 7:40

Passing them here and there. Some going back from shorter runs; some still going out. It really spurred me on. I was still feeling good. I decided that over the last two miles I'd try a legitimate pickup. I've only tried this a couple other times and it's never really worked out for me. I wanted to see if I could run the last two miles faster than any other mile up to that point. In the back of my mind a wondered about stressing my old injuries but figured I'd been playing it safe for a long time and it was about time for a test. Since everything was going so well, today seemed as good a time as any.

Mile 7 - 7:46
Mile 8 - 7:33
Mile 9 - 7:16

I did it and I felt great! I passed a couple guys over the last mile had run a shorter distance and were running at a good pace. That really helped me focus on working my way up to them.

Again, I have no good reason why this happened for me today but I'll take it! There are plenty of days when it's just not there so it's extremely nice to get a good day like today.

As a reference, yesterday I ate a small pasta marinara for lunch, a PBJ smoothie in the afternoon, a hard boiled egg in the early evening, and cereal in the evening. I went to bed around 9:30 and woke up around 2:30. Had a hard time getting back to sleep. After tossing around until about 4:30, I got up and surfed the Internet for a while before going for the run. [Just wanted this on record as I will probably try to replicate today's run sometime in the future!]

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean w. skim milk, water, multivitamin, zinc