Special Double Report

With the impending cruise looming ever-closer it has become a bit harder to keep up with the blog. Not only are we getting ready to leave but I'm trying to leave everything set at work which has meant a lot of meetings in the afternoon and night. Amazingly enough, I have only missed one run. Just one. And to celebrate, I'm running a 5K this weekend before I leave the day after Thanksgiving.

The "Give a 5K for Diabetes" race recap will be my final post before I leave for the cruise. I thought long and hard about doing two consecutive races in two weeks but my running in the last few weeks has convinced me to try it. As you will see, I keep improving my times despite the fact that I decide to not focus on speed. Last week I purposely took it a lot easier in terms of pace. Or at least I thought I was, yet my time in the 4 mile course keeps coming down. 

Tuesday, November 6 - 4 miles

After, deciding to not focus on speed, I decided to try and take this run as easily as I could. This had a very strong effect on the run. Energy expenditure is really something. My pace wasn't that much slower than before. I mean, how much slower can a turtle run right? But it did make a difference on the second half where I felt a lot stronger than usual. It is the only thing I can think of to explain that I ran faster than the week before because I really was taking it easier. No, really. I was! 1:02:16

Thursday, November 8 - 4 miles

Again, I went out with no delusions of grandeur. Taking it easy and not thinking about time. Until the end that is! At the final stretch I checked my phone and saw I was within my time on Tuesday and sprinted to the end. I could not help it. But the whole time before that I took it easy. No, really I promise! 1:01:55

Saturday, November 10 - 5 miles

Now here was the real test. With the long run, there really is no choice. You take it easy and finish or you act like an idiot and break down before you get there. While 4 miles has become a lot more manageable, 5 miles is still a bit of a struggle. This time I was able to finish a bit stronger than before so there is improvement plus I finished in less time too which means that where I ran weakest I wasn't as weak as last week. (Say that 5 times real fast.) Can't ask for more than that.  1:18:00

Thursday, November 15 - 4 miles

With all of this record-breaking and improvements, I needed something to keep me humble. Since I missed my Tuesday run and signed up for a race the next Sunday I felt I needed to come crashing down from the cloud. A wake up call if you will. I took off trying to break an hour on the 4 mile. Predictably, I ended up running the EXACT same time as the last time I ran 4 miles. If I'm not trying, I improve. If I aim for improvement, I crash and burn. Oh well, At least I found a sure-fire way to keep myself humble. 1:01:55

Folks, I'm 1 week away from running the race that started this whole fiasco. The Castaway Cay 5K was the race that got me off the couch and into running shoes. This is going to be quite an interesting ride.