A Great Day For a Run

Run Stats: Farmington Canal Linear Park; 61 degrees; 5 miles; 42:28; 8:37 per mile pace. Mile 1: 8:40, mile 2: 8:42, mile 3: 8:38, mile 4: 8:38, mile 5: 8:30.

I woke up this morning with pain on the top of my right foot. Interesting, since all my pain has been in my left foot up until today. I strained my brain for a few minutes trying to come up with a logical explanation. I hadn't run since Wednesday, and the most strenuous activity I had done was yoga yesterday. Suddenly I remembered how I had sat rather awkwardly on my right foot when we first began the yoga. So I went to our freezer, grabbed an ice pack, put it on top of my foot, and hoped for the best. As I sat with my new best friend "Ice," I started stressing about my pain. What if the pain doesn't go away? Then my goal of running 5 miles in 60 degree temperature wearing shorts on an unusually mild March 7 day in CT would not happen. Even worse, I was thinking, would be the pain lingering for days, and then having to go back to the podiatrist, who of course would want to inject my foot with the extremely painful cortisone shot. 30 minutes later, my fears and foot pain were GONE! My BFF ice pack had done the trick. I was going to be able to go for a 5 miler. Fast forward 4 1/2 hours, and I'm at the overly crowded linear trail. I was happy to see that there were families, roller bladers, people walking their dogs, and walkers all taking advantage of the 61 degree day. As I began my run, I could feel a huge grin forming on my face. It is March 7th, and I was running wearing summer gear. I took in the sights and smells of the trail, waved to every child I passed, and "grooved" to my 70's tunes. I decided that I had to run 5 miles, even though today was supposed to be my last 4 mile run. I passed mile 1 at 8:40, and was a little concerned that I was running too fast, and told myself that I should slow down. Mile 2 was passed in 17:22, or an 8:42 second mile. I had slowed down, but only by 2 seconds. It always takes me a mile or two to loosen up, and today was no exception. Mile two to three felt great, and I decided to allow myself to continue running with my goofy grin and at whatever pace my legs wanted to run. I was running as comfortably as I used to before I injured my heel. Why mess with a good thing?! MIle three was at an 8:38 pace, as was mile 4. I was surprised at how consistent my per mile pace was. The last mile I felt as if I was struggling, but somehow I ran it in 8 1/2 minutes. Overall, my best run since I injured my heel. I'm heading back to the road tomorrow for what's supposed to be another chance to wear shorts as the high temperature is supposed to be 63 degrees. Maybe I can talk my daughter into running with me.