Day 25: Memorial Day Morning Run
8 miles, 58:47 - 7:21 pace (8:06, 7:21, 7:12, 7:14, 7:14, 7;12, 7:20, 7:09)
First, let me say thank you to our troops, both past and present, and a special thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom.
On the early morning of a holiday when the rest of the town is sleeping in, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I pretty much had the streets to myself. It didn't really matter what color the lights were this morning, because there was hardly a car on the road. This eerie peacefulness was actually a nice change of pace.
By the pace of today's run, one could say my run was less than impressive compared to my typical run from last week. I'd disagree and say this run was done practically to perfection. I knew I needed an easier run after Saturday's over ambitious effort, and that's just what I did. I showed the needed patience and fell into a pace my body was comfortable handling, while not letting my pride force me to keep up with the pace of previous runs.
Yesterday, on my day off, I didn't spend extra time I should have tending to my sore areas, so I wasn't surprised that my lower back tightness returned. My right Achilles tendon also ached during the first mile, but after stopping to stretch, it went away.
Overall, a positive lesson can be taken away from today's run - sometimes less is more. Sometimes slower is better. Sometimes you need to take a step back before you take a step forward. Progress should not be monitored from day to day.
