Seduced by the Sunshine

Too much, too soon.

That’s my assessment, I’m afraid, of my Sunday run. The morning was crisp, the sunlight bright – what a beautiful day for a run. I had logged a couple of four-milers during the week without major incident. I was starting to feel good.

What the heck. It’s just one more mile, I thought. While running the Indian Creek Trail, a nice wooded path, my new friend from Garmin (the little guy needs a name, no?) beeped off one mile, then two. I’m not ready to turn around just yet, I thought. How about 5 today? So I pushed on for another half mile before turning around.

I was running at a brisk pace, at least for me. The first mile went by in 8:53 and my last two were 9:00 each. The whole 5.06 took 46:21.

I felt decent when I was done. Even did a little stretching in the parking lot. When I woke up on Monday, though, sore legs told me I might have pushed it a bit too much. Nothing catastrophic, but I need to be careful. I need gradually to build up more of a training base.

I took it easy with a 3-miler yesterday. My legs felt a bit like soggy tree stumps, at least as I chugged up a long hill. Toward the end though, I had worked out most of the kinks.

On Sunday, the sunshine just beckoned to go a little longer, a little longer. Frankly, I am surprised I stopped at 5. I am eager to crank up the training.