Consistency (...or trying to attain some)

To Gilbert and Frankie,

-Brothers in The Force

Before I begin, I want to mention something.

Yesterday was Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure 5K; a race I wanted to run but, because of dealing with my leg most of the month and not training consistently, decided against it. Instead, I was invited by a couple of guys who shall remain nameless (hint: read the dedication) to go watch the Jets game at a pub. Any football fan will tell you how well that turned out for me but I left the pub happy nonetheless because as it turns out, people are reading my blog.

I expected my friends to read at least the first couple of posts, you know, being polite and all, but people have not only read it, but seem to be looking forward to find out what's going to happen next. Blogger tells me I have over 300 hits on The Fat Runner (not counting those who read it on The Loop in the Runner's World website) and I sure haven't told 300 people to go read it so the few people that have read it are coming back to read more. So thanks everyone. I will try to keep it interesting.

Anyway, this week was a futile attempt at consistency. For the first time since my last race (also my first race) I was feeling like I could return to a regular, 3 times per week run schedule. Nature however, had other plans. I couldn't run on Tuesday so I switched to Wednesday and then was not able to run until Saturday. Sure, two out of three is not bad, but I'm tired of missing runs. Plus, I'm aiming to run the Bayamón Board of Realtors 5k on October 21. One last race before the Castaway Cay 5K. With such a "busy" schedule, I can't just run "when I can". I have to find some consistency.

Wednesday, September 26 - 4 miles:

Even though it was late afternoon (I finished the run at night) the humidity was horrible. In Puerto Rico you don't so much roast (like you would in, say Las Vegas) as much as you boil in your own juices and this particular day was really bad so this run was a bit of a struggle and I felt like I wasn't going to run the entire thing but I hung in there and finished. I was running at a super slow pace, which paid off when it was time to go up the hills. 16:30 min/mile is not what I would refer to as an Olympic pace but I finished. 1:06:17

Saturday, September 29 - 4 miles:

What a difference! With a previous run under my belt this week, I ran the same course as Wednesday and it was a completely different story. I had a stronger pace (15 seconds faster then the previous run) and I tackled the hills with a lot more strength. I also cut a whole minute from the previous run. When I finished, I felt like I could have run more. Not bad at all. 1:05:14.

As you know, I'm looking to replace my cherished 1123's as they are pretty worn. Looking for a replacement, and actually since I started running I have noticed a trend in running gear I don't like very much but we will talk about that next time.