Breakthrough?

So I skipped my scheduled 3 miler on Thursday. I wasn't too worried about it because I had run on Tuesday and Wednesday, and postponing the run for one day wasn't going to do any harm. I thought it might actually help to have another day of rest for my legs. Friday turned out to be a bitch at work, though, so I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out. I made the mistake of trying to help my team, and asked the big boss man if they were going to let people go home early, and it turned into a big project for me that took about 4 1/2 hours and caused me to not get a lunch break. It wasn't too bad, because my group had a Mexican food day, and so I had been snacking all morning. I made sure to eat a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar around 7, hoping that would fuel me enough for the 3 miles at about 9:30.

I was very careful to warm up a little more than usual, and when I took off down Oklahoma Street, I felt great. I started off with a one mile loop down to Broad Street and back, and I was starting to get concerned that I was going to crash, because I was running at a 11:30 pace. Normally, I try to start pretty slow, so I can make sure I have plenty of gas for the last mile or so, but I was feeling so good, I thought I would just keep doing what I was doing and see how long it could last. Turns out it last for the whole 3 miles. I didn't have a single leg problem for the whole run (which was unusual), and I didn't have any wind problems either. I also didn't take any walk breaks. I finished the run with a pretty strong kick, and ended up running in 33:46, which is a really good 3 mile time for me. That time is right around my PR for a 5K, which I was 1/10th of a mile away from running. All in all, for a solo, non-race run, a very good time. You can always count on race day to give you a little extra boost, so I feel pretty close to the sub-30 I'm looking for. I feel that if I can run a sub-20 2 miles, a sub-30 3.1 can't be far behind. Maybe Aaron and I can make that happen on Wednesday.

Psychologically, last night may have been the breakthrough I was looking for. It sounds funny to say, but I actually felt like an athlete while I was running. Normally, I feel like a big fat guy trying to lose weight, but last night was different. I am usually excited about running before I go, and I usually feel pretty good afterwards, but during the run, I spend most of my time making small adjustments because of a sore knee, or foot problems, etc, but last night, everything felt like it is supposed to, and I could actually spend the time enjoying what I was doing. When I am struggling, I spend most of the run looking at the ground right in front of me, really conscious of where I am stepping. Last night, my head was up, I was taking in the scenery around me, and the time seemed to fly by. Maybe last night will be the exception instead of the rule, and I just caught lightning in a bottle, but you know what? Maybe it wasn't.