Before I begin, I can’t help but wonder if anyone clicked the link in my last post, titled “Hanes”. And I also have to wonder if anyone appreciated what he or she found. Perhaps I can set up a poll on this page addressing those questions, but I’m sure my laziness will prevent that from happening.
Upward and onward.
So this past Thursday I went for a run. Nothing new, I know. However, this run was different than most. First off, I was planning on running that morning with my sister (who I’ve been trying to get into running with me), but she bailed. Then my wife wanted to take our son to the park as I ran. Then on the ride out, we got a call from my friends to let us know that their (first) baby was on the way. So we then rushed to the hospital. We were there for most of the rest of the day, and I got to “bro support” my friend who has very little baby experience (much less baby girls). So after avoiding all of the fast food that was settled on by everyone else, we finally got out to the park at about 8pm. The park has a blacktopped 2mile loop that is very well maintained and very, very flat. I slipped into my shorts, laced up my Kinvaras, and handed my phone and keys to my wife. Taking off I noticed it was much cooler this time of day (I say day because it was still broad daylight out). I felt that I was moving at a pretty brisk pace (despite knowing that I planned on running 4miles), and was worried that I was going to burn out. Which has been my problem before running too fast at the beginning and having nothing left before the end. But I noticed that my legs felt great (even though they had been sore all day from my leg lift two days prior), and my form felt graceful.
Yes, I said graceful.
I have never felt graceful when running before (which doesn’t mean I didn’t look like a lumbering 3 legged bear, but we’re talking “feel” here). So I didn’t want to slow down. However my goal to run either “negative” or “even” splits had not changed, so when I passed my wife at the playground and she yelled out 17min, I knew that keeping an 8:30 pace for an additional 2 miles, when 4 miles is the longest distance I’ve ever ran at one time, was going to be difficult. But, for some reason, I didn’t feel tired. My legs weren’t burning up, my heart wasn’t pounding out of my chest, and my lungs didn’t feel like they were on the verge of implosion. Perhaps my new “gracefulness” was more efficient, and allowing me to run faster for longer, or perhaps it was partly that, coupled with the aforementioned cooler air and flat terrain. None-the-less, that run felt very empowering, in the middle of powerlifting no less. I’m looking forward to when I return running to priority one and push lifting back to second fiddle; I’m hoping this is a sign of big gains this summer.
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