Week 9 Day 2

Goosebumps!  The forecast called for rain ALL day.  At around noon, I decided that I'd just walk on the treadmill tonight and do the remaining C25K runs later in the week.  After thinking this for hours, the rain rained itself out!  I got home about 45 minutes until sundown.  By the time I got runner'd up (for some reason this always involves a two-flusher), and made it to the track, it was 20 minutes until sundown.

The first mile and a half was pretty standard, I did it in under 18 minutes. (It was too dark to make out the seconds on my watch.)  My lower legs were feeling fatigued, mainly the ankles and calves.  I plodded along, determined to grit out my thirty minutes and call it a night.  My breathing was fine tonight, very relaxed and even - 3 steps in, 3 steps out.  I kept asking myself why my breathing was becoming so easy and my legs weren't also having it easy.  I think they got stuck in a rut.

I'm not sure if I sped up first, or if I got happy first.  But, somewhere in the half lap before 2.5 miles, I literally got goosebumps.  My legs became distant thuds in the background, of no concern whatsoever.  I stopped looking at the track, and instead watched the darkened scenery swivel around as I went through the turns.  I was going faster and feeling better because of it.

I was overcome with the certainty that 3.1 miles was gonna be easy.

When I hit three miles and began the turn, I started really pouring it on.  Before I was even done with the turn I was hauling ... running ... sprinting.  My arms were pumping like a madman-operated marionette.

Sometimes I don't speed up at the end, and when I do it's getting back to a respectable jogging pace. But this time, I was running as fast as I could bloody go!  This run didn't start out that great, but it was a favorite well before it was completed.  This is the second time I've had this feeling, the first was Week 7 Day 2.

This was the first time I'd ever gone 3.1 miles without walking - ever, as in my entire life!  I found the light button on my watch and my time was 36:22.  This averages out to 5.1 mph, which for me is good!