Redemption

My run yesterday went much better than my Saturday long run, even though I started in a bad mood. I always seem to be moody in August, although I hide it well (or not - ask Jeanne.) There's something about the end of summer, with its lengthening shadows, shorter days and the start of school, that makes me wistful.

I was going to run 10 miles, but had to shorten it to 9 miles because dusk was already approaching when I started at 6:50 pm after work. My intent was to run 4- 5 miles at 8:35-8:37/mile to get a feel for marathon pacing. I would intersperse those MP miles with some slow warm-up miles or jog-recovery bits. I did the run on the green and leafy Capital Crescent trail, behind my office building.

The stats:

Mile 1.0: 9:37 (Warm-up)
Mile 1.0 - 1.5: 4:48 (Continued warm-up)

Mile 2.5: 8:14 (Too fast! I try to slow down in the next mile)
Mile 3.5: 8:22 (Still too fast)
Mile 4.5: 8:25 (I really need to slow down.)
Mile 5.5: 8:32 (Almost on pace. Starting to tire. Also going uphill.)

Mile 5.5 - 6.0: 5:31 (jog recovery)
Then I stopped for a 1 and 1/2 minutes to drink warm water from a drinking fountain and stretch. Two male bicyclists were nearby.

One to the other: "My knees are going to kill me tomorrow from this ride." I thought, "What?! Your knees should be thanking you. My knees should be killing me." Then I started running again. The remainder of the run is uphill at about a 2-3 percent grade.

Mile 7: 8:02 (I thought I would throw in one or two faster repeats. For fun. Or perhaps because I wasn't hurting enough.)
Mile 7.0 - 7.5: 5:30 (jog recovery)
Mile 8.5: 8:13 (Hmm. I should have sped up a bit. The trail was getting really dark by this point. Almost complete nightfall. Couldn't see the face of my watch or the bicyclists ahead of me.)
Mile 8.5 - 9.0: 4:34 (Jogged slowly, then sprinted the last 100 feet)

Felt fine and dandy afterwards.