September 23rd: Go Lily!

I have a lot to talk about today, but really no unifying theme. Today was a relatively short four-miler.

• Since I felt guilty about not taking the dog yesterday (too long for her), I gave in and brought her along today. I probably lost about 45 seconds overall due to a poop stop and a couple times where we got our signals crossed. But she still had gas in the tank at the end, which is a good sign. I imagine the cooler temps helped her a lot.
• Speaking of those cooler temps, it was outright chilly today, especially with the wind. It’s getting to be time to invest in some long-sleeve gear.
• OK, here’s the deal on the calf: It hurt a little bit today. But there’s a lot of reason for optimism. First, the twinges are much more acute, meaning that the discomfort isn’t radiating up or down. Also, the muscle overall was loose, not tight. Second, focusing on my form is definitely helping. The overall discomfort was far less than on previous runs. Run upright, use your hips, land mid-foot, no big kick or bounce. And lastly, a quick icedown afterward made a huge difference.
• I am still lousy at judging my pace. I knew I wanted to start out relatively slow today, both to see how my calf felt and to continue focusing on form. But I wasn’t thinking 10:07 for a first mile! Second mile was about 9:30 (with a quick stop for a photo), miles 3 and 4 were in the 8:20 range. I don’t want to be overly focused on pace, but with limited time in the mornings, it is important that I get my miles in. And, frankly, I really enjoyed that faster pace once I got cranking.
• Oh, the photo. I’m sure everyone’s getting tired of those “look way out over the water, there’s New York” pics, but the sun angle and the little bit of clouds really made this a spectacular shot.

Not sure what tomorrow is yet. I know that I need to start logging more miles, but I also don’t want to ignore my strength training -- and I really don’t have time to do both effectively. Also, the day is coming soon enough where I’ll be training on the treadmill, and I sort of want to enjoy the outdoor runs while I can.

Total mileage since starting the blog: 42.5.