Epic Battles

Apparently the only trace of wind in Wisconsin for the past three days was in my face on the way back from my 3.18 mile out-and-back; visibility has been under a quarter mile for literally the past 72 hours and counting. Although this makes for lousy driving, in the right frame of mind, this can make for great running.

Imagination is the key to this attitude. I could just be myself -- a nearly-29 year old, un-athletic teacher.....or I could be William Wallace, King Arthur, Aragorn, etc., etc., etc., running through the fog and mist towards my next battle.

The latter option drove me toward a just-negative split on today's run. I took 18:30 for the first 1.59 miles and 18:25(.2) for the second 1.59 miles. I tried to focus on lengthening my strides, lifting my knees, and kicking my toes forward to keep my momentum forward and not bouncing up and down. I think I read somewhere that that is a good idea. I felt much faster on the way back, so the fact that it only shaved off five seconds doesn't bother me....too much. On the up side, although I felt a few very, very minor twinges in my left knee and left foot, I pretty much had no IB problems.

I've got three more runs before my 5k and a decision to make: on the day of my 5k, do I need to run it twice to get in the 6 miles that I'm supposed to for my training plan? Inquiring minds want to know....