I'M BACK!!!!

My runs the past few days have been getting better and better, which is a big relief. Things had been going so bad that after Saturday's race I thought about calling it a season, taking two weeks off, and then start building up a base again for races in Nov, Dec, Jan, and Feb. So it's been quite nice feeling like my old self again. I took a 'recovery' week last week after running more than I had planned on while in Oregon. I've also been slowly adjusting back to the heat and humidity while getting back to my normal daily routine. I've noticed I respond well under an organized and structured daily routine. I'll have to remind myself of all this next time I start feeling like crap for apparently no reason.

I got a good fartlek in this morning and surprised myself with how fast I ran and how undercontrol it felt. After a 2 mile warm up I did my 3-mile loop (actually 3.05 miles) following a cycle of (2 min hard / 1 min hard / 30 sec hard) with 1 minute easy running between each segment. I ran my course just under 22:15 (7:17 per mile). This included my easy running segments. I figure I was probably running 6:30 to 6:45 per mile for my hard segments. This was quite encouraging as I had been stuggling to maintain 8 min pace the past few days. I'm going to try to get in a 1500m solo time trial on the track sometime in the next few days. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and give me a chance to run well.

I can't explain how good it feels to be running well again. I was beginning to get fustrated with myself, but having patience, being persistant, believing in your training, and believing in yourself are the keys to getting through those rough patches. Keep the faith and when in doubt.... Run More....