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December 28, 2004
Not Up to Par, But That's Okay
I pulled myself out of bed this morning with enough time to get my run in before work, and I'm sure glad I did it. The sun was coming up, which made me feel happy and peaceful. It didn't seem like 14 degrees since I wore a light jacket on top of my polypro. I could've probably managed just fine with shorts, but my hands were sooooo cold even with my new fleece mittens. I should just accept the fact that my hands will never be warm regardless of what fancy gloves I wear. Maybe I should buy stock in Heat Treat, the company that makes those disposable hand warmers. Anyhow, I'm supposed to be talking about my run....I warmed up for 15 minutes, then set out for 7 x 3 minutes on/3 minutes off starting at 10k pace and cutting down to 5k pace. The first couple repeats went as planned, but then my hip muscles started tightening up from lifting last night. After that I couldn't even force the pace by swinging my arms harder or quickening my stride, so I just resigned to keeping a respectable pace during the "on" portions. I had to stop a couple times to stretch my hip extensors. That loosened things up for short spurts during which I was able to push hard, but the nominal hills on the trip back on Fairfax County Parkway (they felt bigger today) kept slowing me down. I ended up cooling down for 12-13 minutes, interspersing some 20 second striders so I could work on turnover and feel like I finished somewhat strong. A couple of positive notes: my quad hasn't bugged me since a "shout out" in my blog (maybe it just wanted attention) and my hips have been healthy. Even though the speed isn't back yet, and I don't expect it to be anytime soon, I'm running injury free. I certainly hope it stays that way!
Posted by Leilani at December 28, 2004 09:35 PM