December 3rd: Grudging, but Fast

Apparently, Mother Nature wants to see just how cold it has to be before I turn tail and head back inside. Yesterday, it was 39 degrees when I started out. Today it was 38. But again, no wind -- though it was a bit dank. I have to say, I was a bit tired this a.m., and a bit cranky because the dog put another hole in the loveseat last night. All the ingredients were there for skipping the run. But I grudgingly went anyway.

As I've said before, sometimes I really don't know what kind of run it's going to be until I get going. Today my plan was to increase distance a little bit and try to be in the vicinity of race pace. That's not exactly how it turned out. The first two miles were about there, adding in 10 or 15 seconds for a photo. (More on that in a minute.) Mile 3 was fast -- 8:42. And then mile 4 was ridiculous -- 8:17. Although I was hoping for 5, by 4.5 I was right by home, and I was pretty bushed, so I cut it short at 4.6. My overall pace was 8:50. Anytime I'm sub-9:00, that's fast. I'm not really sure what to attribute that to, because if it were a "let's just get this over with" pace, I would have stopped at 3.11. And it's not like I had a ton of spring in my legs, either, since I ran yesterday.

There have been a number of barges in Keyport Harbor lately. I don't know if they're dredging the channel or replenishing some sand or both -- or something else entirely. But this odd-looking thing has been anchored out in the middle -- maybe someone knows what it is.

Also, it looks like they're doing some repairs on the seawall walkway. The one concrete slab that wobbled a bit when I hit it seems to have been replaced, and there's at least some temporary fencing where the railing was washed out. Maybe it will be "open" by the spring.

Between the layoff after I banged up the MTSNBN and the two weeks owing to the Great Acid Reflux Incident, I think I've lost a bit of fitness. As I said, I was pretty bushed after 4 miles, and my legs are good and sore now. I'm kind of torn for tomorrow. I do want to continue to log miles, but injuries happen on dead legs. And there's always the gym or even the "home gym" to do some strength training instead. I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Total miles since starting the blog: 138.4