Easy five miler on the schedule today, AND no new snow? Yes, please!
It irks me that the Y closest to me doesn’t have an indoor track. There is one not too far as the crow flies downtown (yuk!), but that takes just as long to drive to as the Y in Perrysburg. So now I’m making the drive down I-75 each morning so I can run on a track and skip the treadmill for another day.
At least the track is sparsely populated at 7:00 am.
Today’s Break-1:30 run: 5mi easy (8:02/mi).
I know from yesterday that my ability to gauge a consistent pace is rough, at best. So instead of trying to nail each mile at target pace I just tried to stay between 7:30 – 8:00 min per mile on the Garmin. I bounced a bit high early on, but settled in to that range quickly.
What I learned today is that I can handle this pace quite well. My breathing stayed deep and easy throughout the run, and I was able to keep on pace while focusing on form and cadence. My legs were a bit tight from yesterday, but nothing a good stretch couldn’t fix.
Looking forward, I see a tempo run tomorrow. So I’m planning a pasta dinner tonight (Pepper & Pork Rotini, from Racing Weight Cookbook!) to top off my tank. I can’t believe how much better my training feels since I altered my nutrition to an endurance athletics based plan. Of course, it helps that the food is delicious!