3 Days in a Row!!!

It is a small celebration but those are what matter the most.  3 days straight of running and I already feel like I'm back in the grove.  Their is definitly something to be said for rest after a big race.  To be completely truthfull, cause I always am, I feel like my stride is more efficient then it was right before I ran my previous marathon.  My stride is a funny thing because I have nothing to base it off other than feel.  Okay, occasionally I run by a glass building side and take a peak at my running stride but other than that I am basing it all on how it feels.

Did 9 miles of "rolling" hills today.  I put "rolling" in quotation marks because everyones definition of rolling can be a little bit different.  It is hard to count the number of rolling hills I encountered along this stretch but if I had to estimate I would say about 10 decent hills along the 9 mile loop.  This route is another one of my favorites because I can make it into so many different distances.  The 9 miles I covered today is pretty much the shortest the route can be done in so it is a nice mid-distance run.  Today, I went down my street onto Main St in Stoneham.  From there it is a straight shot out to Spot Pond.  One loop around spot pond will put you back onto Main St and then you just follow it back to my house.

I was happy about my energy levels today.  After the repeat hills yesterday, I was curious on how my legs would react today.  They did not take long to get going!  Second mile clocked in at 7:37 and it only got a little faster from there.  I was trying to push myself through this workout and not just stay content at one pace.  My mile pace gradually got faster right through till my last mile (7:00).  Overall, I averaged a 7:24.

I am trying to not get caught up in pace but as you can tell from my last paragraph it still matters to me.  Ryan Hall's book talked a lot about putting your confidence in God.  I have a long way to go before I stop caring so much about the clock and thinking more about how joyful I am when I'm out there.  I am only human though and I look forward to challenging myself in new ways.