Lunch Runs

Monday Annette and I started something new. We are trying to run at lunch when we can and this week has been awesome. We got to run Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at lunch from home. I am amazed at how good this has been, especially the progression. I almost feel like I am back to speed again. And we haven't been lolly gagging around either. We have been pushing it, not to the limit but almost at a tempo pace at times. The weather on these runs has been good, Monday 64 and sunny, Wednesday was around 60 but 30mph winds so how we had good times I don't know. Thursday was perfect, 60, sunny and no wind, almost hot. Here are my results for the past three runs:

Monday
64 degrees, sunny, breezy
3.1 Miles - 31:57 - 10:19 avg. pace
1-10:19
2-10:03
3-10:43 (walked with Annette when she had stomach issues)

Tuesday
60 degrees, partly cloudy, extreme winds (20-30mph)
3.0 Miles - 29:50 - 9:57 avg. pace
1-10:21
2-9:53
3-9:38

Thursday
60 degrees, sunny
3.1 Miles - 29:13 - 9:26 avg. pace
1-9:21
2-9:36
3-9:25


I was extremely happy with today's run. And I forgot to mention I had to walk twice to catch the phone but it was only like 10 seconds each maybe. Saturday we will be racing our first 5k of the season at the Valentines Day 5k in Russellville. My goal last night would have been to finish around 29 minutes. I'm thinking now with the cooler early morning temps and the flatter than my neighborhood course, I'll be in the 28 range. I will not rule out a PR though. I have always been much faster in races than any training runs and checking back on my logs, I have never ran 3 mile training runs this fast. We shall see how it goes come race day. No awards for me irregardless. The Grand Prix Series has some of the fastest guys in the state so I'd have to run around a 19-21 minute 5k just to place in my age group. I'm not going to get my hopes up too much for a PR, just racing for fun.

By the way, I love running at lunch even if it is just 3 miles!