I initially meant to head out in wee small hours of the morn but heavy eyelids kept me in my warm bed as opposed to on the cold concrete so when I came home from work it was in, out, and off down the road. For some reason I got it in my head much earlier in the day that today had to be fast, or at the very least faster than usual, not in the 'get it over and done with' sense but in the 'let's see what I can do, but not be crazy' sort of way. So I stretched out a little more so than usual and headed out on the same general route I've been using for most of these 3 mile runs (which is actually 3.6 give or take but that's besides the point).
I wouldn't say I ran hard but I was pushing my self harder than usual while at the same time focusing on my body mechanics, breathing, posture, etc. My breathing eventually ended up echoing in my head "stay focused on my running," as I went along it felt like some new age mantra or some thing, over and over like a tape loop, oddly enough though, it helped. Whenever my mind would briefly wander I could feel myself slow down and my body mechanics become sloppy this would jar me enough to refocus and as a result return to form.
The end result of this mental work out was my first run (since I got "back on the horse") where my minutes per mile were sub 7's, 6:50 per mile to be exact. As if this wasn't rewarding enough, I also took note of the fact that my knee was much less sore than usual, I like to think that this was due to the combination of excess stretching and the focus on my foot and leg movement.
I haven't decided yet if I'm going to continue running in this manner day in and day out or if I should just do this once or twice a week but I can say I'm pretty glad I did it this time around. I'm sure there's going to come a time when I'd like to have the music cranked up and allow my self to enjoy the views but as for now I must say, this was quite rewarding.
(here's a goofy picture just because... this is from "The Big Climb" my face was supposed to read "Team Neato!" but instead read "Neato! Team" because of some kid, who clearly needs face painting lessons... the head band seemed like a good idea until about the 20th floor or so...)
1 comment:
So I believe we need to trade places with my insane comment from my page... Smiles... What made you think of that part in Seven anyway... what ever it was I like your style. I pretty much knew your reaction to the Twins domination of the M's before I wrote to you. Basically the same as the Vikes/Hawks. Always go with the home team right?
Post a Comment