Fast!

I had to post after my run yesterday. I ran 5 miles Friday evening. I was a bit under 46 minutes, so the pace was a little over 9 minutes a mile, which is about what I've been averaging lately. Yesterday I went to the park by Sarah's house and ran 6 miles in 48 minutes! Do the math...okay I will--that comes to exactly 8-minute miles. I'm still not sure how I managed that. When I started off, I knew I was running faster than my usual pace but I felt good. Still, I expected to begin feeling winded quickly, which is usually what happens if I go too fast, but I didn't...ran the first mile with no problem, looked at the Nike+ app on my iPod and my time was 7:56 just shy of the first mile.

Granted, I didn't actually run 6 miles straight. I pause the Nike+ app if I stop, so it only tracks my running time. I stopped three times during the 6 miles. After the first mile I stopped and put my toe-socks on since I started without them on. That was about a 2-minute stop. Then I had a ~1-minute stop after the 2nd mile for a bathroom break. And I stopped after 4 miles for some water...another 1-minute break. So with the breaks I was a bit over 50 minutes for 6 miles. Still, this was by far my fastest pace. I think a previously had a pace of about 8:30 on a short run of a couple of miles.

I wish I could tap into that feeling and the energy I had yesterday at will, because it felt so effortless. My 5 mile run Friday was a good run, but it felt like a lot more work than my much quicker 6 miles yesterday! If you could run that pace for a half-marathon, even with a couple of bathroom breaks, you could easily break 2 hours.