Feeling Vernal

Spring has sprung and it feels good. I took the opportunity to clear out my running clothes drawers. It's amazing how quickly I can pile up a bunch of running shirts and shorts that I never wear. I went lean and tucked away a bunch of things that I normally leave in there. These extra clothes will sit in the closet for about 1 year at which time I will decide that I really am not ever going to wear them and I'll send them to charity.

I ditched all winter running clothes except two long sleeve shirts. I may be a bit optimistic about the temperatures but I think we must be in the clear as far as cold weather goes by this point.

My spring running so far...

Tuesday night I didn't have time to put in any miles before the group run so I settled for the normal 8. I hoped to do 6:20 pace tempo run for a majority of the way and luckily so did a lot of other people. Ian and Veena were shooting for the same pace so I tucked in behind them along with Chem Steve, Stevus, and Chris. Ian and Veena were dead on with a 6:25 on the first split and things increased slightly from there. 6:24, 6:18, 6:04. Just about exactly what I hoped to run that evening. I didn't get all the miles I would have liked but I definitely got the ones that counted.

Tonight was my mid-week long run. I have been steadily building these runs up from 10 miles in the beginning of training to this week which was a 15 miler. That number seemed insane for a mid-week run a year ago but now it is sane enough that I can out and do it.

Back out to Chestnut Hill for this run on a route that I have been adding a little bit to each week to get the miles I want. I had Sufjan Stevens' "Illinoise" album on the iPod and without me realizing it, the dark and gloomy middle section of this CD had gotten me in a dark and gloomy mood. However, the CD suddenly takes a turn to a more poppy and upbeat song towards the end that puts a smile on my face and makes me pick up the pace. It's a strange feeling when that song comes on and cheers me up, I'm really not paying any attention to the music and suddenly I realize it had me in a bad mood when this upbeat song comes on.

My legs were a little fatigued but as the run progressed they actually felt stronger. I got back to Manayunk and did a little bit of looping around to make what I felt was 15 miles. Got home and mapped it all out. 15.0356 miles in 1:49. for 7:16 pace. I really didn't think I had been moving that quickly but the numbers don't lie.