In fairness running in the dark probably hasn't been an issue since late January......but did you really expect me to pass up a photo op of my beloved Iron Maiden??? c'mon the blog is "Kevinrunningfree" named after the debut Iron Maiden single "Running Free"!!!!
While we're still officially in Winter you wouldn't have know it yesterday,53 degrees and sunny,tempted as I was to give "Old Man Winter" the finger and go w/ the "Three S's" Shorts,Shades,Sleeveless I figured that miserable old bastard probably has one more bout of bad weather to dump on us b4 Spring so I just opted for shades.....however I was able to run sans ski hat,gloves,heavy duty hoodie and running tights under my warm up bottoms......I probably could've gone sans half zip warm up top but having avoided getting sick all Winter now didn't feel like the time to "fly in the face of it".....it's not like I haven't missed enough training this Winter??!!!
I guess I should address last week,having been forced to sit out Monday due to 3.5'' of snow I logged back to back 8 milers on Tuesday/Wednesday and looked set to log only my second 5 day/40mpw of the Winter.........
Thursday I didn't have it mentally or physically,no biggie I'd try to run 8 miles on Friday to stay on pace..the only fly in that ointment is I don't run on Fridays on a regular basis and once again by the time I got home mentally I wasn't "Up" for it.
I still had a shot at a 40 mile week IF I ran back to back 12 milers on the weekend......it sounded good in theory but you know the old adage about "theory and practice being the horse of a different colour" and you also know what they say about "If"......
Fatigue was crreping into the picture I went to bed at 9.30pm on Wednesday,8.30pm on Thursday and then slep from 12.25am till 10.15am on Saturday which really threw an industrial size spanner in he works for Saturday as there were domestic issues to negotiate on top of the run and w/ that he first 12 miler went for a burton and frankly a run of any length on Sunday seemed futile.
I'd like to address the fatigue issue,granted I'm not conditioned to the level I'd like to be which may explain why a three in a row had a degree of difficulty normally not found for me on Thursday but I am due to have my blood checked again to see if there are any abnormalities at work again circa 2011 when Anemia disrupted my season......I DO NOT want to have to go back to running 10,000m on the track again so off to he lab for blood work again for moi by weeks end/early next week.
As for yesterday s run,I've said on countless occassions in my blog,failing to kick the week off on a Monday often leads to a week not complete.....you only have to look back to last week for the evidence of that mindset so w/ 53 degrees and sunshine how could I NOT run?????
Strike one,having to run the dock single handedly as my coworker took off for a family funeral,strike two no lunch hour as a byproduct of working solo on the dock,and then losing the battle w/ Mr Sandman on the trolley ride rome.....was this the fatel strike three?.....was it fuck!!
W/ the sunshine beating down on my face as I put my front door key into the lock I told myself"you're a cunt if you don't run today" and having ran like a cunt over the mile on Feb27th I knew I had to get changed and get out there w/ the quickness.
Once I got dressed and out the door I felt fine,it's been a while since it's been this warm and that in of its self is a huge psycological boost to motivation,I keep telling myself everyting is a process right now,I need to get into a routine of 5 day/40mpw training which in turn will elevate my levels of stamina,speed and confidence which will go a long way to helping me return to a level of running and training I'm acustomed to.
The warmer weather means not freezing out along the river,nor bundling up like "Nanook Of The North" to combat that,w/ warmer weather comes more runners which will being a good thing in general also means more targets to chase while out and back along the Schuylkill Banks and Kelly Drive,so it will come as no great surprise that last nites time for 8 miles was my fastest all winter.
While I've always stressed that times on my easy/recovery runs is neither here nor there the fact is my 4 most recent times have been slower than the "benchmark 1.25" I shoot for:1.34,1.32,1.27,1.31 so imagine my delight at a 1.24 last nite,providing I can "deliver the goods" this afternoon on the track over 5x1,000m repeats I'll feel I've maybe turned a corner and prehaps this "Winter of my discontent" is coming to end in more ways that one.....
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