Went for a run tonight, after working all day and tutoring for 3 straight hours in the afternoon. Since this was my first run after the 5k race on Saturday, I wanted to take it easy. Seeing as how I usually hit a midweek lull in training, and since my calves were still tight from the race, I wanted to hold back and work on just keeping a nice even pace with a moderate heart rate.
I ran the home course track taking the big hill on Singingwood for both loops, and really enjoyed it. The shin splints seem to be going away, and I love the new trainers I got at Strictly Running. I thought a lot about form today, since I was not pushing it as hard as I usually tend to do. I have to work on the concept that not every night has to be a new personal record. Anyway, I have been doing some reading on triathlons, swimming and running in general, and some of the advice I've seen recommends running with my hips out more, and to shorten and quiken the pace on hills. I also focused on keeping my hands and body loose. One technique I read about was to imagine potato chips in your hands that you don't want to break.
The run was not momentous, but when I finished and started my cool down, I was amazed at how fast my heart rate recovered tonight. Now that I have been training for several months, my heart rate returns to normal much faster, and tonight, I hardly took two steps into my cool down walk before I noticed I was back to normal breathing. Strangely, I was excited by this. I ran 3 miles, and hardly raised my heart rate.
Plus, when I returned home and checked my run stats online with mapmyrun.com, my pace was about 9:15 minutes miles. That's just about what I ran in the race, and I wasn't even trying. Getting down to 8:30 minute pace seems very possible in the near future, and hopefully before the next race.
Next Goal: Swim 500m
Current Status: Icing my cramping calves (much better than icing shin splints!)
Upcoming: Swim #3
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