I tried running the entire housing development that my in-laws live in Saturday morning. I fell far short of my goal. I felt lousy and just couldn't do it. Today, I set out with the same goal and did more than planned.
I woke up a little before 8:00, dressed semi-quickly and after a quick sip of water headed out. At 54, it was about 10 degrees cooler than Saturday. The breeze felt wonderful as I started out.
I ran in and out of every cul-de-sac, taking left turns all along the way, dreading the left that would take me down beech hill. The early going wasn't too bad. I was a little sluggish, but not overly so. I was running in the 9:00 to 10:00 pace range. I didn't really care. I just wanted to finish.
I was grateful for the little side street break as I took it easy going down the big hill. It kept me from having to pound my knees for too long at a time. I made it down, turned at North Star Road and headed back up. It was slow going, but I didn't walk. My heart was beating pretty hard when I got to the top, so I backed off a bit and ran around one of the circles again before taking on the loop I hadn't done yet.
I completed running the development and then decided I was going to do at least a 10K, so I kept running. I ran a bit more aimlessly, turning when I wanted to and taking it fairly easy.
When I had less than a half mile to go to 10K, I headed back toward the house. I passed 6.2 miles a house or two beyond the driveway and decided to keep going until I'd run an hour. That meant another hill climb or two.
I finally finished my hour long run while coasting down the hill in front of my in-laws' house. I'd covered 6.53 miles, right on pace for a two-hour half marathon. Not bad considering the hills.
I walked a bit to cool down, then went inside and drank a whole glass of water. No drink ever tastes so good as the one you drink after a nice long effort. (garmin data)
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