1 mile, no sweat, 2 miles, better yet...

The title is a reference to my time spent in the military. Completed a good run today. I went back to my shorted 2.3 mile route today. I felt that jumping to 3.2 miles was a bit too much. So I completed my run with a smile on my face. Ahh the sweet feeling of success!!! Today's run was a special interest to me because I've recently purchased an Oregon Scientific Heart rate monitor. I must admit that when I first put it on, I thought it was going to be very uncomfortable running with a strap around your chest. But honestly after about 5 minutes of running, I didn't even notice it. I tried to keep my heart rate in the 160's. There was a few times that it jumped up in the low 170's while going up hills, but as soon as a crested the hill the heart rate dropped back to the 160's. I think having this information while running increased my pace a little, I was able to cover 2.3 miles in 26 minutes. I know that's slow, but hey its pretty good for me!!! Well tomorrow is a rest day and I think my body really needs it. I woke up this morning and my back was just killing me. I popped a few Advil and got it under control. I'll write again in 2 days!!!

Are we there yet?

So today I set off on my longest run to date. I know that you're only suppose to increase your runs by 10% to decrease your chance of injury, but I couldn't find a 2.75 mile loop. So the loop became a 3.2 mile loop. Lord have mercy! I tried to run the thing non-stop but alas I couldn't. About 2 miles into it I had to take a short walk break. But I resumed running and managed to straggle back home. The strange thing is that even though I walked for 2 minutes, my pace went down 30 seconds! I don't get it, but I'm not complaining. I must say that I probably bit off more than I can chew, but I'm glad I did. I was a great feeling accomplishment. I'm sure that I'll be pretty sore in the morning. I can't wait to get up and do it again in 2 days.