Running in Circles

I stepped out the door this morning and realized that my legs were still quite sore. Instead of running some tough hills and on the pavement around my parents house, I decided to head to the track later. That also allowed a few more hours for my legs to rest.

I headed to my old high school's new track. It's really nice and an all weather track. It's located next to the new middle school. This is the second new middle school that they've build since I was in middle school 15 years ago.

I ran 5 miles around the track. I reversed directions after every mile, to be easier on my legs. The soreness that my legs are experiencing right now, makes for a slow and awkward start. The first lap took 2:30. Following that, most of my laps were about 2:00.

I felt pretty good once warming up. I ran very well in miles two and three before tailing off towards the end. At least I had some company. A little girl, who looked to be about 8, must've run 3 or 4 laps. That was pretty impressive.

Running in circles for 20 times was maddening. It was very difficult to go over and over again. I tried to just take it one lap at a time. I'd much rather run on the road and over an ever changing course.

I had chafing issues the other day and they crept up again. I took my shirt off and that was a big relief. It was cool by the end of the run though. It was also dark.

My marathon training is nearing a close and I'm already thinking a lot about the future after that. I can't wait to pump my training up even more, with speedwork and more miles. I'm happy with where I am and where I've come from, but I've only just begun.

The big part of the marathon isn't so much finishing the race as it is committing to the training. I haven't missed a single run to laziness. I only stopped running when I felt an injury coming on. When I ran my first half marathon, the opposite was true. I was incredibly lazy back then and often missed runs for no reason.

I am still focused on the long run this week. It'll be a 20 miler around the river loop a couple times. The training will be all downhill from there. I wish I wasn't so sore going into it.

5 miles - 41:15 (8:15 pace)