I realized at some point that, by not running on Tuesday, but still wanting to run 24 miles this week, that would mean I would probably have to run 4 days in a row: Wednesday (speed work), Thursday (3.5 miles), Friday (5 miles), and Saturday (7.5 miles). I could either take Friday as a rest day and run those miles on Sunday, or I could move my long run to Sunday. Oh, I suppose there are several possible combinations. But, dammit, I don’t want to run on Sunday because that throws off the whole rest of the week. I’ll play it by ear.
But, in the meantime, I had a simple goal tonight: 3.5 miles, not pushing the pace. Easy-peasy. Did it at the gym, wore the Adidas. Music was The Decemberists, “Picaresque“. Did not use the inhaler. And, I did the miles only slightly slower than a 10:00 pace. I didn’t keep track of the exact time.
The first mile felt fine. During the second mile my negative inner voice chimed in, and worked to convince me that I only needed to do 2 miles, or only 3 miles, or only 30 minutes, or only 35 minutes. I just kept going. I did slow the pace down a bit, but never broke stride into a walk at all. I did sweat a lot, but regular readers know that that’s normal for me. I did have some heel pain, but concentrated on lifting my knees and pointing my toes, which helped shorten my stride and increase my turnover (pace of my feet hitting the ground), which was good. Also tried to focus on “running tall” and keeping my head and shoulders up, although I didn’t do so well with that. Overall, it was a good, steady run, and hopefully it will pay off with an increase in my aerobic capacity, which is why I do the slower runs, after all.
…and, afterward, after I stretched out, I spotted a cute busty blonde on the treadmill, that I had seen in the gym a lot recently. I had made eye contact in the past but hadn’t gotten any acknowledgment back from her. This time, still up on the rush that follows a good strong run, I thought I’d “test” her to see if I could make her smile. I walked slowly in front of her on the treadmill, caught her eye, and, smiling, briefly stuck my tongue out at her. This very nearly used up all my bravery, so I kept walking and looked away, but as I did, I saw a smile form on her face! I count this as a successful test, and I will smile and say “hi” the next time I see her, to take the next step.