ON Track...I Guess

 December was the start of my new running season. After almost a month off from Stone Cat and the ITB issues, I felt pretty antsy to get out for a run.

  I decided to run the road, leave it short and slow, just wanted to see how much the condition has slid and whether the ITBs would act up. I expected a fair amount of rust and surely some struggling moments with the cardio.

 I headed out with very little expectation but quite excited to get a run behind me. To start with, Saturday morning was  kinda cold and it took a bit to figure out just how much to wear. As soon as there was enough light, I hit the road running and figured a 5k would probably be enough.

  I actually felt great, but purposely did not check my watch. I wanted to run by feel and just enjoy it. I call this loop a 5K but it actually measures 3.15 and has a fair amount of hills in the second mile so it is a good 5K training loop.

  To my surprise, I felt like I was running at a fairly fast clip and there was no rust , ITB or cardio issues at all. It was like I never took a break. Perhaps the lay off was just what the body needed.

 When I hit the second mile which is pretty much a steady incline, I expected to suffer a little but to my wonderment, I just worked the hill with ease. The only point I felt a slight bit out of shape was the last 1.5 miles which ended up being a somewhat pathetic attempt at a finishing kick.....no turn over at all though I did manage to speed up some.

  The run felt great and I was quite excited to review the stats and find that it was fairly speedy too. I ran close to 8 minute pace which is about where I normally run my tempo runs when training for 10 Ks Overall quite happy with this run.

3.15 miles @25:42 (8:10 pace)
8:18.....160-166
8:36.....153-167 (hills)
8:00.....155-160
6:28.....162-166 (last 1.5 kick)