National Running Day

Since it's a national holiday of sorts, I was really hoping to do something to celebrate.

The downside of my plan was that there didn't seem to be anything going on to commemorate this momentous (why not?) day here in Austin. I'd already run my 8 miles this morning, so what else was there to do?

Simple. Run more.

You see, since I decided to sleep in on Monday, my running schedule was one day off. The easiest solution was simply to move my daily runs back a day and skip my scheduled rest day on Thursday. But then, I remembered that I've got a 20 miler on Saturday, and that rest day could be very, very beneficial toward my confidence in completing that run, which in turn will make me far more confident three weeks later.

In order to have this day of rest, though, I needed to get today's original five miles in at some point, so after work and taking my father to the airport and a dog training class, I went for another run.

That's right, I headed to the gym, climbed on the treadmill and got myself started. Fast. And then I kept going faster. Something in me this afternoon made me want to really kick some ass. I started the treadmill at 9.1 mph, and increased it by .1 every half mile. By the end of mile three, I was pouring sweat, but I knew I was already at my vital 60% mark. My 5K time was under 20 minutes. My fourth mile was my fastest yet, and I knew that I could make it the rest of way.

The best part of this workout had less to do with the moment, and more to do with the moments after. Once I was cleaned up, I felt a post-adrenaline high hit, and I just started smiling. Not only was I done with my workouts early enough to enjoy the evening, but this meant that I do not have to get up extra early tomorrow, and I'll go into Friday and Saturday's workouts rested and excited. This is the pinnacle week of my training, and I'm thrilled to be making the most of it.

Happy National Running Day. Hope yours was half as great as mine.

Wednesday's Run (2):
Indoors / Treadmill
5.0 Miles
31 Minutes, 32 Seconds