February 13th, Tuesday

I always surprise myself by how nervous I become when it is time trial day.  But, I must say that I had not put myself on the clock for a fitness check for many months.  The fact is I have not attempted to run a mile under 10  minutes since last June.  So, I approached today’s test with trepidation . Yes, my body has been telling me that I have been working hard; swimming, biking and kinda slow running.  But, since I arrived in St. Augustine, I have not logged a mile faster than 10:50.  The modest  goal was, therefore, to run a mile under 10 minutes.

After biking the one mile course to my favorite running neighborhood, I decided to  try a modified (74 yr old) version of a  warm-up procedure that  Rich Refi has been using with the Hillsborough girls distance team.  It includes a gradually accelerating 10 minute run followed by a series of timed pick-ups with full recovery.  I did 4 x 20 second and 4 x 10 second strides gradually increasing the speed. I liked the way it felt.  The weather was perfect at 62°, no wind and heavy overcast.

I began to run with limited expectations and checked my watch consistently throughout the run. To my surprise during the first minute my watch read 7:15. This was both encouraging and frightening. Was I about to crash and burn during the next five minutes trying complete this mile?!  At around .25 my watch was still reading under 8:00 pace and I was feeling no aerobic or muscular distress. I began to relax and enjoy the run a little and reached the halfway point in 8:06.  I became emboldened and decided to try to pick up the next 400m and reached the .75 mark with my watch now reading under 8:00 pace.  I began to realize I could run under 8:00  if I held it together through the final quarter.  I focused on relaxed form, elbows back and belly breathing and finished, breezing, in 7:57.9.😊

I truly surprised myself. Maybe there is a chance I can run a decent time at the Saint Augustine Lighthouse 5K on March 3rd. Getting pretty excited!

I jogged a little and rode three more miles on bike getting back home.

On the way I stopped in a local cafe called Little Maggie’s for a late breakfast of two eggs over easy, bacon, home fries, wheat toast and good coffee.

A good day…indeed!

Stats – Who cares?