The Currency of Running

I've had a pretty good week this week.

Even though I didn't make my goals on Monday I felt great through the whole workout and that counts for something.

Wednesday I met up with the Bonjour Cupcake group and got my Tempo for the week done.  Randy couldn't make it because of some lame Army PT test...Amy had already run.  Drew is taking Chemistry on Monday's and Wednesdays...so Heather took pity on me and ran with me.

It turns out all this time she's been faster than me, all I needed was to wait until she was weighed down with a baby and I would finally get to run in front!

I did feel great though.  It was dry and clear skies and I've been feeling light on my feet.

I love it!

We ran my warm up together and then kicked it up a notch for the Tempo.  4 Miles at a 7:38 goal pace.
I've been running under my goal times, and while that has been REALLY FUN, I know it's not the best training plan.

I want to run fast on April 21st. not just for today.

Since Randy wasn't there to goad me into a faster pace I tried to stick as close to goal pace as possible.

9:22 for our warm up.
7:41, 7:33, 7:33, 8:21

After 3 miles at Tempo and having to really watch my Garmin to keep from going to fast I decided that what I wanted to do was run with Heather.  I knew I could do my goal pace without a problem and it was stupid to run in front when I don't actually have a finish time goal for Boston.

Running with Heather was more fun:)

It's easy to get bogged down with goal paces and race PR's so that you forget why you enjoy running in the first place.

Sure, I like doing my best, but I also really love running because of how it enriches my life both physically and emotionally and that means making time to run with my friends.

I forgot that one year and had to much of my person invested in making a marathon goal time.  The race was a bust because of one bad decision on course and I ended up walking a LOT of the race.  I was crushed.  I crossed the finish line, looked my friend Melissa in the face and the first thing I said was "I don't think I want to run for a while".  She was wise enough to not say anything to that declaration.  She did tell me to sit down and got me food.

She's a good friend.

I promised myself I would never so focused that I forgot again.