What a day for a run!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

I had just finished the book “Born to Run” and was more psyched than ever to get to the park for a run. I was planning to go an hour, but finish the last 7 minutes barefoot – part of my strategy to slowly build the strength of my feet with a gradual increase in the spent running unshod. My plan was to go about three times a week, building slowly to 20 minutes with at least one day off between each barefoot bout. This was strength building and I figured to follow a normal weight lifting routine.

It was sunny and cool when I emerged from the car to change into my running gear. A cloudless, blue sky overhead had me thinking about being above the tree line in the Adirondack Mountains, though they were probably still snow covered. It was the kind of day when distance pr’s are run. I hadn’t run in two days and was well rested, and with these conditions I decided it was going to be a faster day.

I selected my park perimeter course where I’d run a pr on my birthday, which now stood at 53:02. I figured I’d step it up a little and get it into the 52’s.

I started off heading up my favorite hill. “Glide” I told myself, taking short steps and leaning forward slightly. I reached the top about 20 seconds faster than usual and felt great. This is going to be a good one.
I kept gliding throughout the run, focusing on breathing easily, enjoying the scenery and smiling whenever I saw someone. I was going to make it fast, but keep it fun. I had determined not to check my watch at any point so as not to try and push myself to pr. If it happened, it happened. Stay smooth.

I watched the ground over the last mile making sure to keep my feet from coming up too high or striding too far. No heel/toe – I kept striking with the flat of my foot. I was getting tired as I neared the car, but made a conscious effort to keep the pace constant – no picking it up towards the end. I was really trying to gauge my pace and whether I’d improved it. Sprinting at the end could improve the pr, but would distort the pace story.

I hit the stop watch as I crossed my finish line. When I saw 48:56 – a new pr by over 4 minutes – I was more surprised than anything. It had really been easy and I’d crushed my previous best. I was confirming my conditioning improvement once again – and without the scale. I looked over to the field where I planned to do my barefoot running, but there was a duffer hitting golf balls. Smart money said stay out of the field. I was pretty happy with the run – and pretty tired – so I decided to call it a day.

Later that evening, I grabbed Dakota and headed back to the park for a hike/jog. I couldn’t help myself – I just wanted to do more. I love that feeling.

Run duration: 49 minutes. Hike duration: 30 minutes

Training Heart Rate: 140 running. 70 hiking.

Calories burned during workout: 825 running. 425 hiking.