Once around the neighborhood

Today's run (street): 3.6 miles at 9:15/mile

Today's weather has turned dark and gloomy and I'm expecting to see the predicted cascades of rain starting at any time. The morning's skies were brighter but the temperatures were colder and I made the mistake of putting on too many layers for my run. I have been pushing myself more than usual over the last couple of weeks but I haven't focused as much on my speed as I have on hill training. I'm racing the Marcie Mazzola 5K in two weeks and I want to tune my conditioning for the killer hill at the start of the race. At least the race organizers were kind enough to design the course so that the hill is at the beginning rather than making it a dreaded obstacle near the finish.

Last night we got together with friends for dinner. Our hosts are fantastic cooks and this led to some untypical overindulgence at mealtime. Adding to that, I had my monthly beer (a Budweiser of all things!) and more calories came later when we all celebrated my wife's birthday with homemade desserts. Due somewhat to that, I wasn't exactly raring to get out and run this morning. We're traveling tomorrow and I probably won't have a chance to do a workout before we leave so I needed to get in a run today. I decided to start by running the three mile perimeter of our neighborhood. Along the northern road (Jericho Turnpike) there is a hill that goes on for a third of a mile. I thought that would provide a good challenge within a fairly low key run and I was pleased by how easily it went compared to the last time I tried. After reaching the apex of the hill I turned into the neighborhood proper and finished with a total distance of 3.6 miles. I was sweating quite a bit by the time I got home, having broken the cardinal rule about dressing for the second mile rather than the first.

9:15 isn't exactly burning up the road, but given that I completely ignored any thought of pace I was happy with where I ended up. It was a successful weekend of running and I'm glad to have done a good series of hill workouts over the last nine days. I look forward to my rest day tomorrow and I hope to get in at least one trail run as we visit the Berkshires for a few days next week.