Back Half

I found out today that I really need to work on improving the back half of my runs. I wasn't dreadfully slow or anything, but I didn't pick up the pace and finish strong like I should've. I only ran three miles, but I did at least have a fairly consistent pace throughout. I just need to be stronger for a longer time.

I concentrated early on to keep good strides and take deep breaths. I went through a nice pace and planned to really push it after turning around and finishing the second half of the run. After the turnaround, I passed two women in the first mile. That was a good way to pick up speed a little, but after that I really struggled to finish. I didn't have the kick that I often do at the end. Hopefully when I run a 5-K in another week, I'll actually be able to have the crowd and other runners carry me to the finish. I don't want to rely on that though.

I changed things up on this run. It was the first time that I've run on the west side of the river. I ran to the 1.5 mile marker and then turned around. There are almost no trees on the run and the sun made it a bit rough. Luckily the temperature wasn't too hot, but I still got worn down. There was a huge group of geese in the road and I just elected to run around them.

I think one of the big reasons I struggled coming back is because the route is a slight uphill one. Even so, if I'm going to get to where I want to as a runner, I need to get stronger on runs like this. Because it was a shorter run, I wasn't that enthusiastic about it. These are the runs that are going to make or break me though. I had no problems in the past getting up for long runs, it was the short ones that were my downfall. Those runs are just as important though and I really need to run them hard too.

Even though I wasn't excited about the run, I at least never considered skipping it. I also did put a lot of effort into it, I just didn't have a lot in the tank. After the run, I was very tired and took a nap. This is something I need to stop doing. It ends up keeping me up too late at night.

Tomorrow will be another short run of two or three miles. I'll following that up with a bike ride on Wednesday. Thursday will be another track workout as I prepare for a 5-K the following week. Friday and Saturday I'll be traveling to auto races again so I likely won't do anything.