Getting Faster

I have not really been doing any regular speed work yet besides from the occasional tempo run, yet I seem to be getting faster and running longer at faster paces. I believe that all the races I've been competing in may have something to do with it.

On Friday, I decided that I would try a run at my favorite park, Shelby Farms. I've really missed running there since the heat has forced me to do much of my running indoors or early morning around my neighborhood. It was around 100 degrees, but my boss deemed it "shorts day" at work because of the heat and I ended up freezing my ass off all day long. So the sun was feeling really good to me when I left the office. And I actually felt ok for the first mile or so. It was hot, but I wasn't really bothered by it.

And then it hit me. Boy did it hit me. I started feeling dizzy and nauseous and my legs felt like Jello. Ok, lesson learned. Still too hot for me...so I drove on over to the gym to complete my 8 mile long run of the week.

I felt great! I was really moving, too. Now the indoor track is flat so I know that helped my speed, but I averaged the five miles at an 8:41 pace. Not too shabby in my opinion.

The next day was an outside run in the neighborhood, which is pretty hilly, and I had a pace of 9:25 for those 4 miles. My HRM says that at one point, I was running at a pace of 4:45!!! Ok, obviously I didn't hold that for long, but still! And my max HR was at a new high since I've had the watch...it was 222 for this run.

The week was a good one. I had one extra rest day on Sunday, but I still got in over 25 miles. I'm happy with that and I'd like to maintain that kind of mileage each week until my official marathon training begins.

Shelby Farms Park.

And we have buffalo! 3 babies were recently born and they were named Simba, Shelby and Buffy.