Give me a 5!

Today's 5-mile run marks an interesting milestone in my training this summer -- it's the first time since March 1 and 2 that I have ran 5 miles or more two days in a row while training. Just like hitting 20 miles for the week last week, it's another hurdle I've passed since coming off my injuries earlier this year. The next big milestone will be hitting 10 miles in my long run. After that it's just going to be fine tuning before the Rock 'n' Roll Half and, hopefully, losing a few more pounds.

Speaking of 5-mile runs, I have an entry form in the mail for next week's Percival's Island 5 Miler in Lynchburg. I love this race -- it's nice and flat and it's the site of my second-fastest paced race ever. Last year's time was 36:59, which was 4-plus minutes faster than the year before. Since this is my first race in more than three months, I'm not really sure what my goal is right now. This is a good distance to test myself in a race, so I'll just have to wait and see how I feel that morning with how much effort will be put into it. It's a perfect test for my upcoming half -- it'll be six weeks to go, so it'll put things into perspective with what I need to work on.


Workout since last post
July 11 -- Walk - 0.7; Run - 5

Measuring success

Every runner has a different thought on how to measure success. Whether it's having the longest run ever or setting a PR or doing a workout you've never done before or losing weight, there are endless ways to measure success in running. That could be why I've come to let running be the biggest part about who I am.

Yesterday I ran the Percival's Island 5 Miler in downtown Lynchburg (and Amherst County). It's a very flat course, out and back. As usual, I went in with the goal to beat my time of last year, which was 41:07. I figured that would be easy enough since I've gotten my overall race pace under 8 minutes a mile for a while now. Realistically, I wanted to finish in about 38 minutes. To my own surprise, my time was 36:59. So not only was this a PR for this distance, my race pace was a PR as well. With it being a flat course and wonderful weather for late July, the conditions were perfect for all this to happen. I felt comfortable and in control out there yesterday, and still had very little soreness in my legs today. After the race, my workout continued as I had to help my dad in pulling carpet out of my late grandmother's house.

So I have to say that for me yesterday was a success. The next "race" will be a half marathon in four weeks that I will be treating as a long run for the week. It'll be a good chance to have a long run with a lot of people around.