Today's run felt great! That's not to say that I felt great for the entire 3.1 miles, but all in all, it was definitely a success. After a few days off to rest my legs, I decided to ice before today's run. What a difference. They were a little sore for the first half mile, but loosened up and felt really good after that.
It was my goal to run a 10 minute mile pace and the first mile started out around 10:20. I knew I could go a little faster, so I picked up my pace for the rest of the run. I tried not to overdo it, but somewhere around the 2 mile mark I felt myself slowing down. I felt tired and gravity was suddenly twice as strong as usual. I remembered back in my cross country days to what I tried to do when I felt like this... I needed to focus everything upward. Rather than thinking about gravity pulling me downward, I needed to focus on the upward motion of my legs, the forward motion of my arms and I needed to keep my eyes focused ahead instead of on the ground in front of me. It was this last part that really made the difference... I caught sight of one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen all summer. The sun was directly behind a large white cloud causing one of those visions you imagine when thinking about miracles, heaven and angels. Now, I'm not a particularly religious person, but the sun's rays shining from behind the clouds would be enough to lift anyone's spirits. It was breathtaking and I suddenly felt capable of just about anything.
My last mile felt better than I ever expected and I even managed a little something extra for the last three tenths of a mile. I was shooting for a time of 31:00 and was so excited to do even better than my goal. I'm feeling very confident about my ability to run next weekend's 5k and am looking forward to it even more than I thought I would!
For now, I'd better revisit those ice packs in the freezer...
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