Muggy Days

Saturday, July 14, 2012:

The St Croix Valley Runners meet every Saturday, 7:00 am, rain or shine, at Northland Tennis Courts on County Road 12 in Stillwater.  We had 14 runners and walkers, mostly runners, tackling another high-humidity morning, everyone arriving back at the tennis courts drenched in their own perspiration. The standard route is 5 miles, but I went 4, doing my run/walk, this time running 20 to 30 seconds per minute, more than I’ve been doing.  I finished in 44:43, for a pace of 11:11.  No pains of any kind.

One of many beautiful scenes on the
Family Means garden tour

Next week I’d like to finish in less than 44 minutes, for a pace below 11 minutes per mile.  It’s time to get some speed back.

Friday, July 13, 2012:

We ran later in the day today, with temperatures in the eighties and a dewpoint to match.  But I took it easy, running only about 15-20 seconds of each minute, and finished 3.93 miles on the paved trails in 35:19, for a pace of 12:10.  Nothing hurt.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012:

What a beautiful recovery run!  The grass trails in the park were dry,  the morning air felt cool and light, and I felt very good.  Still running only 15 or 20 seconds of every minute, I had no pains, even though I’ve stopped using my special hernia shorts.  No whining today.

My legs did run out of gas easily on the uphills, but recovered quickly and the overall time was fine.  Three miles in 35:20, pace 11:51.  Not bad for a nice, easy run.