Speed racer? Not last night.............................

I did my 5.5 mile route last night. Not having much energy (could this be because I didn't eat much during the day because I was busy?) the first hurdle was getting out the door. To accomplish this, I tell myself to get out there, that is it. No goals, plans, or rules, just get out the door.

Once I get down and around the corner I am committed and on my way. My next thought is to decide the minimum I will do. On this particular route I also have a 3 miler so I told myself that if I wanted to I could turn around at 1.5 and just stuck with my nice, slow jog.

By the end of the first mile I was warmed up and finding a rhythm. Clear that this run was not going to be about speed, I decided to make it about form. I focused on slightly leaning back (people looking at me would have thought I was upright, but there is this perfect spot one can find that tips your center of gravity back ever so slightly. You know it when you feel it), head held high, arms relaxed (elbows with a bend) thumbs and fingers relaxed slack, not bunched, with arms going forward and back and NOT crossing in front of the body. The arm thing easier as your trunk gets stronger.

Once I had focused on this for awhile, I turned my attention to my stride. The proper way to pick up speed is to shorten your stride while speeding up your turnover rate. I played with this for about a mile, shortening a little, a little more, feeling the difference, then lengthening it back out and feeling the sensation of slowing down. All of this will be important when I am racing and needing to pick up the pace or climb or recover from a hill.

After I got bored with this, I turned my attention to my gait. Land on the ball of your foot and role down onto your heel. After about a quarter mile of this I put it all together and tried to get the feeling of gliding. I try and picture a deer moving through a field and mimic that motion.

By now I had arrived at mile 4 so I told myself I could run a cool down and walk at mile 5. I always tell myself this, and nearly always end up not walking. By the time I get to 5 miles I think "if I keep going I can be finished faster. Last night was no exception. Sometimes knowing I have options I don't need to exercise them.

About a quarter mile from home, I met another runner running on the wrong side of the road (runner's rule is to always run on the left where I was) and heading right at me, Fortunately the road has little traffic so I moved out into the middle of the lane. As I got closer, I noticed that this guy was looking W-A-Y to serious to be having any fun so I decided it was my mission to lighten him up, if only for a second. As we approached one another I yelled out "high five" as I raised my hand. He looked confused for a sec and then got it, smiled and we slapped hands as we passed. If I can't be wacky and have fun while I am running then I'm not going to do it. Period.

Just think, if I hadn't done my run exactly as I did, the timing would have been off and I might have missed that moment. This will help me to get out there the next time I don't really feel like it!