Day 24 - Sometimes the Wind is at Your Back

After my nice run yesterday, I wasn't expecting to feel up to pushing it too hard today. And three donuts and a coffee for breakfast an hour before I went out is not exactly the breakfast of champions.

I hit the road for a five-miler, planning to enjoy the 60-degree sunny weather. My plan was to run easy for the first two miles, push it just a little for the next two, then cool down for the last mile.

Almost as soon as I hit the road, things started to click. Up to this point, though obviously I am quite out of shape compared to what I used to be, I had not even begun to realize how rusty I had become in terms of form and technique. Today my body began to remember. As it started to come back to me, running transformed dramatically.

I still lack the strength and stamina I used to have, and it will take months to get it back, but for the first time today I felt fast without struggling to make pace. Without consciously thinking about it, suddenly my hips adjusted forward and began rotating. Instead of trotting I found myself easily and smoothly gliding. As if on cue, my breathing changed in response. Instead of panting for air, forcing it into my lungs, it was if a dam of ice had thawed and suddenly rivers of air flowed in, rippling over every vertebrae, pouring down my spine and deep into my lungs. My chin lifted, and when I glanced at my watch I saw that I was cruising under an 8-minute mile pace with almost no effort. Everything became smooth and easy. The fatigue of the first three weeks of this 100-day attempt just fell away.

I hit mile three and began to push just a little. I covered the next half mile in 3:45, then two more halves a little faster in 3:42 and 3:41. I still felt good, and was not working that hard yet. I decided to push the gas pedal more and accelerated, covering the next half mile in 3:21. As I reached the end of that half, my stomach muscles ached with fatigue, and my form and technique began to degrade. I jogged the last mile home at an easy 9-minute pace, focusing on my form and breathing, and completing the 5.15 mile loop in 40:30.

I am sure that it will take time for me to get back to feeling easy and natural on every run, and I was reminded at the end that I need to spend much more time on ab/core exercises if I want to be able to sustain that for any distance. Still, it is awesome to rediscover that stride, to remember what good form really feels like, and to know that I still have the capability to run that way. Sometimes you turn a corner, and suddenly the wind is at your back.


UPDATE: Phil finished Napa in 4:11:08. Way to go, Phil!