Working the plan.

I ran 3 easy miles Tuesday morning with Jodie. The weather was nice but my Achilles tendon on my right foot was aching horribly. I was foolish and strayed to a different brand of shoe. I have tried New Balance in the past and I believe that they are good shoes but they just do not fit me well. Everything is fine with the shoe except the back of the shoe is too stiff. I put about 15 miles on them and my Achilles felt, not stranded or pulled, but bruised. These shoes have been shelved. On a related note I also bought a pair of light and fast Adidas running shoes. Also not a normal shoe for me. These shoes are working great. Against my own advice I continued to run even with the pain just not in the New Balance shoes.

I also ran at lunch with Vic and Chad however I did not participate in the "Dot Race". I ran the course but not the race. I started slow and tried to increase my speed at each 1/4 interval. The last 1/4 mile was an all out 1:22. Pretty good considering the pain and already have run 3/4 of a mile at a 'good' pace.

Woke up this morning feeling good and wanted to run a light tempo run (faster than normal but not all out). I was shooting for about 5 BPM below lactic acid threshold (LT - also called aerobic threshold - this is the level you can sustain without going anaerobic). So after a short 1/2 mile warm up I started at the 5k start / stop point of a known out and back course. I accelerated to a comfortably hard pace. Clicked off the first mile at 6:38. Not anywhere near 1 mile records but feeling strong. During training I have so much difficulty sticking to the PLAN. As I said I was feeling strong and pushed just a little harder - maybe to just above LT. Hit the half way point and charged home. The ground was wet from a light rain the night before and the sun was still not all the way up. I missed the last mile marker so I was unable to get my splits. With about 3/4 mile left I pushed the pace higher. I was now well above LT. Breathing was labored. Still strong but having to push hard. Was about to cross under the final bridge with a 1/4 mile left and I gave everything. Arms were pumping, my stride increased (not always a good thing), and I focused on the goal. Crossed the finish line feeling like I had accomplished something. My day was made. Ended up with an unofficial personal best 5k time of 19:42 - 15 seconds better than my race times. For the record I will add about 10 seconds because the start/stop is not marked exactly - but I will take it.

I guess the time off probably really helped - I tend to have a difficult time taking the easy days easy and I rarely train smart. Something that I have to work on.

I am getting inspired for the 1/2 mary coming up. I had previously only been going through the paces. It is now time to put the goal in permanent marker and work the plan.