Back in the saddle

Finally felt good enough to go back to work. I was still a bit congested and had a slight cough, but after two days at home I was going a bit "stir crazy" and needed to run!

So off to work I went. As usual, I was able to fit in a lunch-hour run on a treadmill at the gym we have at work. I must say I feel very fortunate to have a gym in our office complex. It's a complete facility with lots of free weights, machines, elliptical machines, stationary bikes and treadmills and the rates are extremely reasonable - $25 per month.

Anyway, I was scheduled to run 8k broken down as 3k@5:10, 3k@5 and 2k@5:05. However, I had missed what I felt was a more important run on Wednesday and decided to do it instead.

It was also an 8k run but after 2k@5:15 to warm up, I was to increase my pace to 4:15 per kilometre and hold that for 4k before cooling down with 2k@5:15. The 4:15 pace is essentially what I'll need to run in Georgia next month over the half marathon distance to qualify for NYC. So any training runs that call for that pace or faster I feel are crucial to my success in the race.

It felt great to run again, even if it was on a treadmill.I warmed up nicely and then shifted to the 4:15 pace. Surprisingly it was "easy", I was cruising at that pace, and was able to focus on form and footfalls. I felt like I could run a long way at that pace and was a bit disappointed that I had to gear down for the last two kilometres.

I was encouraged, perhaps I am making progress and getting faster. The real test, of course, will come in a few weeks, but for now I'm optimistic...and it was great to feel healthy and running again.