7.21.2005

Up the Tempo. Drop the Pace.

Hard Run tonight. Despite less sleep than I thought I could survive on, I pulled off a very fast paced tempo run tonight. I haven't broken my stay-up-late vacation activity pattern which has made me very tired in the morning and driven me to run in the evenng when it's usually pretty hot. Nevertheless, I felt very promising sensations in my body when I started out tonight. My lungs felt very clear and able to work at a rapid cadence. My legs were loose and holding strong efficient form. My toes were grabbing pavement. My shoulders were high and pinched back in a pose of confidence. Maybe it was the exhibitionist in me - short royal blue running shorts, no shirt, deep dark New England tan, long hair flying, etc. Hey - it's a motivator.
So I popped round my route at an 8:03 mile pace. Looking at my pace chart for tempo runs since February the time has dropped every month: 8:44, 8:32, 8:29, 8:20, 8:13 and now 8:03. That was surprising to me. No wonder I feel so good.
My weight? Another curiosity. I usually pork up on vacation but I held steady, maybe for all the running with RBFers. Now I've dropped another 3 pounds and am down where I was in April when all hell was breaking loose in the school district. Maybe the trepidation of school opening in less than three weeks is starting to gnaw on my nerves. Or, more likely, it's something else on my mind.
At least the running is rewarding. Now I need a race to target.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

You're cruising, David! And I agree you should be showing off that nice tan and hard-earned runner's body :-)

Jon (was) in Michigan said...

At that rate you'll be close to 7:00 by Christmas! Isn't that wild how it drops so steadily? You must be doing something right. Please share when you find out what it is.