More Powerful

In the morning…

…and in the evening too!

Week of October 16, 2011:

Bike: Thursday

Run: Saturday

Wildcard: Wednesday (Pilates/yoga blend)

Couch-bound laziness: Friday

Let’s talk about running today, shall we?  This is, after all and in theory, a blog about running.  On Saturday, I hit the road for a run, and I decided to make it into a tempo run.  I was feeling up for a challenge, especially since I wasn’t doing a longer run.  I warmed up first by walking, then by running at my easy pace for about 10 minutes, and then I ran at a faster tempo pace for about 10-15 minutes.  The pacing was perfect: it was hard enough that I was working to keep up the pace, but it wasn’t so hard that I wanted to quit so I could catch my breath.  And when I finished, I felt strong and powerful (and a little tired and breathless).

I know you aren’t supposed to do both speedwork and increase your mileage at the same time, but I am feeling like I would like to focus more on running faster instead of longer.  My theory is that I’m in good enough shape overall that I can do both, provided that neither is too intense.  Of course, without a watch or a Garmin right now, it’s a little hard to gauge what “too intense” even means.  So maybe what I mean is this: I want to feel more powerful when I run, and running faster makes me feel more powerful.

I think the bird photos tie into this post thematically: for us landbound creatures, what feels more like flying than going as fast as we can on our own two feet?  It’s in those moments when my legs and my lungs and my energy all come together and I’m absolutely flying across the ground that I feel like running is almost magical.  I hope to have more of those moments this fall.