6.5 K + 4 striders @ 44:50
Pace 6:54 / km
And to think that I giving serious consideration to skipping today's run !!!!!!!
But first, a little jump for joy for my first non-race run under 7 min/km .... :) :)
I double-checked my records and sure enough, I am correct - I have yet to complete a training run / casual run under 7 min/km. I have only been able to do this in race situations. So woo hoo! May this run be the beginning of many runs in the 6 minute zone. :)
And please allow me to show some admiration for those splits which led me to this milestone ... especially my 6th km ... :)
1K - 7:02
2K - 7:20 (going uphill)
3K - 6:56, strider #1
4K - 6:43, strider #2 & 3
5K - 6:43, strider #4
6K - 6:36, LOOK! No striders! And it was my fastest!
.5K - 3:26
So, where to start ... yesterday, my "rest" day from running. I decided that it was a good opportunity to try a "Chiseled" class at the fitness club, described in the class brochure as a great hour for your arms. I thought this was a great way for me to exercise while giving my legs a rest. Can you see where I am going with this already? It turned out to be an hour of torture with a drill sergeant who had me limping out of the room because my legs did so much work!! Good arm workout, but an even greater leg workout. I just knew right then and there that I would probably regret doing this in the morning. By the end of the evening, I was already stiffening up, and although I slept well last night, I did wake up a few times to flip myself to my other side slowly and with care because my leg muscles were aching. :(
This morning, walking from the bedroom to the top of stairs took a little effort. Walking down the stairs woke me up ... ooooh, ooooh, OOOhhh!, oooooh ... and right away I thought, how can I run with striders today? I can barely move!!!
But this made me feel quite bummed because I had arranged my schedule soI could specifically go to a "Beginner Body Core" class early this morning after missing previous attempts to attend for the last three weeks. If I was feeling like I could not run, did this mean that I would have to miss this class again? I really had to think about this. After contemplating my schedule and weighing my options, I finally decided that maybe this beginner class would be ideal for warming my leg muscles up, thus enabling me to then go for my run ... so I went for it.
The class was excellent and although it was for beginners, it was still a very good workout. There were definitely moments when I could feel my taxed leg muscles, but as I exercised, becoming warmer and sweatier, the less I noticed the soreness in my leg muscles. I knew for sure that I had it in me to run.
Accompanied by Kim and Angus, we drove to the park because the sidewalks between my place and the running paths were still dicey after our recent snowfall and cold spell. Just before we started our run, I bumped into an old friend from the dogpark, a fellow 3-dog owner, and because we had not seen each other in so long, we paused for a good chat. This was lovely, but keep in mind I was dressed for running (i.e. not warmly enough for standing and chatting!) and as a result, my once-warmed leg muscles soon cooled. :( There was not much I could do about it so I enjoyed my impromptu visit, and after bidding adieu, my cold and very stiff body started a walking warm-up before initiating the run.
I swear anyone who might have seen me in the first km would have noticed how "odd" my cadence was! :) :) I could feel that I looked like a little old granny trying to run!! :) :) It was enough to make me chuckle at the thought and to coach myself to wait until the 2 km mark before assessing what kind of run this was going to be. I swear I was running a walking pace up the hill when I reached it (my 2 km split reflects this), but fortunately, the downgrade of the hill helped me to quicken the pace and this is when I felt like I was finally on my way ...
I made sure to run my striders on the flattest parts of the park so that I could concentrate solely on my speed. I was very surprised to see how often I averaged up to and maintained 5:30 / km - I was not planning or expecting to run that fast. Also, I recalled how much slower I would run initially in the recovery period following my strides on Tuesday so today I did my best to keep up my "normal" pace after each one.
This is when I noticed how much happier Angus; he loved being able to run faster. I am the one holding my running partners back ... sad but true. :) Angus looked looked like he was running when I ran my strides; however, Kim is so long-bodied and long-legged, it did not look like the faster pace phased him at all!! What I also noted was how Angus kept the pace up after the striders - he liked them so much, he wanted to stay at that speed. I think I owe a huge thank you to my two big dogs today ... they challenged my pace and helped me to keep it higher. They were literally my trainers. :) :)
I am happiest of all noting my 6 km split because that's all me, baby! There's not one strider increasing the speed on that one ... it's just my running pace from beginning to end. :) But I will say this, I had nothing left by the last few hundred metres of my run. Usually I have something to finish my runs with a bit of speed, but today, nadda.
To top this day of, I still went to Kundalini yoga in the evening as I have for the last few weeks. Tonight, we worked on internal balance. It was quite the workout for my shoulders and gluteus muscles! But it was the *perfect* workout, a much needed stretching and balancing hour after my day, and my new favourite activity on Friday at dinner time. :)
Last but not least, I went for a stroll with Wallace after arriving home so that he had his time out and about. He was enthusiastic about his one-on-one time with me after being left alone at home when I ran with the others. He sniffed and checked his pee-mail throughout the neighbourhood; I had one last opportunity to stretch the legs before parking myself in front of the computer.
I have a 10K planned for tomorrow and will need to run early to fit it in on a planned out, busy day away from home. Not.looking.forward.to it.LOL!
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