Must be the new shoes

I just completed my fastest 9 mile run so far during my training. I ran in 1:10:15 seconds which was a full 15 seconds faster than I ran on Tuesday. I actually thought I was not going to reach my goal of 1:12:00 (8 minute/mile) because I had to stop twice to take a gel. As I started off today I realized I had forgotten to take my usual 1/2 banana. That started to play mind games with me as I knew that I had only brought along 2 gu chomps:



I tried these several weeks ago during a long run and found them very effective. I have tried so many different gels/bars etc. during running but this one seems to do the trick for now anyway. (LOL)

figured that I would take one of these at 3 miles and then another one at the 6 mile mark. The walk break took an average of 56 seconds. I used it to bring my heart rate down slightly and to make sure that I chewed the GU chomp completely. There is nothing worse than having these things stuck to my teeth while I'm trying to run a sub 5:00/KM (LOL).

At the 7 mile mark I was at 55:03 and I needed to be at 56:00. This meant that I had built up a 57 second "cushion" for the remaining 2 miles. I kept going through the math in my head. I needed to do 9 miles in 1:12:00 which meant that I had just under 17 minutes to do 2 miles (8:30 minute mile). This is where I really had to dig down deep and not settle for just doing that. I wanted to average at least an 8 minute mile for the final 2 miles. That would still have put me at 1:11 or so and I would have been happy with that. It was amazing to see how I just relaxed at decided to just "run" and not think. I did the last two miles in 15:12 or an average pace of 7:56. I was very happy when I finished but also very light headed. Now it's time to get to work with this moving business...

This will be a stressful weekend with moving but I know that without my running, my peace of mind will be disturbed. Here is one of my favorite songs, enjoy:




Paulo Nutini (New Shoes)

"Woke up cold one tuesday,
I'm looking tired and feeling quite sick,
I felt like there was something missing in my day to day life,
So I quickly opened the wardrobe,
Pulled out some jeans and a T-Shirt that seemed clean,
Topped it off with a pair of old shoes,
That were ripped around the seams,
And I thought these shoes just don't suit me.

Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I dont need an excuse,
'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.

Woke up late one thursday,
And I'm seeing stars as I'm rubbing my eyes,
And I felt like there were two days missing,
As I focused all the time,
And I made my way to the kitchen,
But I had to stop from the shock of what I found,
A room full of all my friends dancing round and round,
And I thought hello new shoes,
Byebye them blues.

Take me wondering through these streets,
Where bright lights and angels meet,
Stone to stone they take me on,
I'm walking to the break of dawn.