A better run

Today, after yet another week between runs, I managed to complete my usual two miles in 18 minutes. Best. Time. Ever.

The first mile I completed in 9:46; it has been nice to keep the tougher mile below 10 minutes the past few times. I ran my best second mile, at 8:14. Definitely better than my crappy, stress-induced second mile from last week.

After the two miles, I managed to jog up the hill that is pretty much parallel to the killer first-mile hill, no easy task after having had a pretty good run. Next, I ran back and forth in the flat upper lot a few times, stopped only by the smoke drifting out of the cars of a mail carrier car and a cable guy. I guess that lot must be a good place to take a smoke break. I ended with three runs up and down the 66 (or however many) steps.

All in all, it was a pretty good workout, although I really should be getting a second run in most weeks; I can't even call myself a runner anymore, for the love of Pete. I have been swimming some at least once a week as well as walking or running around with my kid to try to keep in shape, but this blog is not called "Doing Various Exercise Around the Burgh"!

Stressed out + running = good and bad

I ran yesterday, for the first time in over a week. This layoff was due mostly to a family medical situation that forced me to be on the phone for hours a day with various people as well as required a few trips to the hospital. So despite my feeling stressed out and tired, I figured it would do me some good to run.

Oddly enough, before I knew it, I was finished running up the killer hill. For the first time in pretty much ever, it did not feel too terribly taxing, but, of course, it was no walk in the park either. As I was running, I was thinking I had a good chance to finish that first mile in under 10 minutes again, so I pushed myself as much as I could. As I came near the top of the hill at the end of mile 1, my stopwatch hit 9:43. In full disclosure, I turned around just before I reached the peak, but that was still probably my best time to date.

Unfortunately, I paid for that during my second mile back, which is mostly downhill. More often than not, I try to run down the last steep hill, to keep that second mile time around 8:30 or so. Yesterday, it was all I could do to jog the last couple tenths of a mile. I ended up finishing that mile in about 8:50, which is the worst second mile I have had for quite some time. I was also not able to run up the driveway of the school and run around the upper lot to get in at least another half mile, as I typically do when I have finished my two miles.

Hopefully things will be back to normal soon. But for now, I can at least be glad I got a short run in this week.