Flying at ground level...

I started out walking a block or so from home before beginning to run. Maybe that helped. I don't know. All I know for sure is that I really enjoyed my run this morning. My legs felt good and my feet felt like flying. Occasionally my stomach protested the pace, but my mind shut it up and I kept going.

I began my run heading south on Highway 54. I ran out past the construction at the junction of 54 and 61. It's nice to see they're making real progress. Can't wait to put my bicycle tires to that beautiful fresh asphalt! I ran on along the shoulder past the truck stop and the new Maurices and Hibbet Sports stores, past Wal-Mart, past the Case International dealership into the country. As I ran along, I kept glancing at my Garmin. I couldn't believe my pace. It was always in the lower 8s.

When I got to the road that would take me toward the lake, I turned south. I ran down the hill enjoying the feeling of my legs turning over far faster than usual. My pace on the steepest part of the downhill was under 8:00.

As I approached Lake Road, I spotted a little beagle out for his morning constitutional. He didn't spot me. I hoped he wouldn't. I knew this dog. He'd followed a couple walkers a time or two and I didn't want to bring him back to town with me. It ended up that I had no reason to fear. When he looked up and spotted me as he was crossing the road just in front of me, he started in fear and ran off. I guess he must not like fast people.

I ran on up the hill on Lake Road to Country Club and turned north. I once again dropped under 8:00 pace as I bombed down the hill into town. I turned onto Sixth Street just as I was passing the five mile mark. I was on pace to hit 10K near or just over 50 minutes. Only two times had I ever dipped under that mark, so I pressed on.

I don't know if it was the hill on Parklane or the rise on Third that slowed me up, but I missed a sub-50:00. I'm still pleased with my 51:01. It's probably in the top five of my best 10K times ever and it felt a lot better than I remember any of the others feeling. It was great to do something different than the long slow runs I've been doing. (garmin data)