After taking yesterday off to rest, I was back on the roads at 6 AM this morning. The plan was to do anywhere from 8 to 10 miles and I had no idea what pace to run it at. Instead, I just ran! What I found out was that I was quite a bit faster than I've been in a long time. I tried not to look at my watch too often to see how I was doing but each time I did glance at it I was surprised at the pace I was running.
The route that I do daily is one that has just enough small hills to make it challenging and a few nice flat areas where I can really speed up if I want it to. In my mind, it's a perfect route for me.
On the way home I saw a mama racoon and 6 babies all walking behind one another. As I ran by them they turned their heads to look at me. I'm sure they were probably wondering what I was doing. When I got home I couldn't wait to tell my kids all about it and they were excited and a little jealous I'm sure. Seeing nature up close, whether it's baby raccoons, large turtles or my favorite, deer, in the wild makes my running all the more special. I'm sure I see things early in the morning that others will never get a chance to see.
My weight has dropped to about 162 pounds, which is still about 5 pounds heavier than I want it to be for my next race. I should be able to get it down to 158 or so by the time my race comes though so I'm not worried. It's no coincidence that my increased speed has happened as my weight has dropped. I often wonder how fast I would be if I got down to 150 pounds.
After my race next weekend, there will be a month before the next race so that will give my body plenty of time to heal itself. These past two weeks I've started to push myself a little bit more and it's starting to pay off. I'm hoping that it translates into a better race times.
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