It is sunny and dare I say actually warm today so I was inspired to do something I have not done in nearly a year of running — run on consecutive days. I know that makes me not hardcore or something, but there you have it.
Today I went all out, though. Or halfway out, at least, doing another 5K run. I felt fine during the run and feel fine after — no pain and the only soreness is from overnight, when three weeks of not running caught up with all those unstretched leg muscles. I suspect they’ll be a bit stiff tomorrow, too, but it wasn’t anything that affected the run itself.
The temperature rose to an early spring high of 15ºC and the wind also picked up, strong enough at times to tug at my cap. I hate that. The sun felt very distinctly warm but not hot. It was pretty nice, overall. The same jogger was on the trail from yesterday, running clockwise, a compact woman in her early 20s who apparently manages to breathe through her nose as her mouth appeared to be clamped firmly shut every time she passed me. To a non-runner this may sound like no big thing but to me, there is absolutely no way I could take in enough air through my nose to keep me going while jogging. Maybe I just have small nostrils. Not that hers were flaring like a bull’s. Anyway, it seemed odd, so I mention it.
I improved considerably over yesterday’s pace without consciously trying. I just worked at a steady, natural gait. The shock came at the end — not when I got the stats on my run but hearing the voice of Tiger Woods congratulating me for the first time since the whole scandal broke last November. With him back golfing and having done the live TV confession thing, it may be that Apple and Nike thought it was time to let him speak again to all the joggers plugged into the Nike+ doohickey. For the record, he said, “Tiger here. You’ve completed 250 miles, way to go.” It was nice, if a little late — I had passed 250 miles on yesterday’s run.
A remarkable 12 second improvement in my overall pace. I definitely shook off the cobwebs today.
Full stats (yesterday’s times in parentheses):
Total distance: 5.03 km (5:04 km)
Overall average pace: 5:21/km (5:33/km)
1st km: 5:05 (5:12)
2nd km: 5:10 (5:20)
3rd km: 5:15 (5:25)
4th km: 5:18 (5:29)
5th km: 5:21 (5:33)