After three days of ice, anti-inflammatory medicine, and no running, the little piggy that stayed home was felling pretty good . The bone which the swelling was around is still sticking up more than the bone on the opposite foot, but the pain had subsided. After thinking about it for absolutely no time at all, I decided to go to Fleet Feet's Social Run for the first time in a good while. I feel in with a group that was targeting a 4 mile run at an 8.5 minute pace, which is faster than what I have been doing recently. A 9 min mile pace would have been right in my comfort zone, but after thinking about it for absolutely no time yet again, I decided to go with it.
I though that we would build up to that pace gradually because that was what we said we would do when we set out. However, I seemed to be mistaken because we started out right around 8 flat for most of the first mile. I decided to hang on as long as I could but knew I couldn't maintain that pace for 4 miles. We did the first mile in 8:16.25 after we backed off a bit toward the end of the first mile.
The second mile was nearly the same pace and I thought that I would just drop back at the two mile mark. At the pace we were running I would beat my 5k PR if we maintained this pace, and I wanted no part of a training run PR! If I am going to break that sucker, I want it to be in a race! My toe was just a little sore just as we started the run but any pain I was feeling quickly faded. We did the second mile in 8:17.74, and I told the other runners that I was going to drop back and not to worry about me.
However, as the third mile progressed I closed the initial gap that had opened up between us right a the two mile mark. This wasn't on purpose or ego driven in any way. I just felt as if I had hit a pretty good groove and keeping pace well. My new goal became to hang with them until the three mile mark. We were no longer in danger of eclipsing my PR, but I just felt that three miles would be a good place for me to stop and walk. The foot was still feeling good but there just wasn't any need to press my luck -- No need for the running Whammy. The last mile took 8:48.49, and I happily shut it down. I could have pressed on, but this just felt like a it was enough. I had done 3 miles in 25:22.32
Good job pushing yourself!
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