a nice cool day!

Yesterday, about 4 miles. so-so. My hopes weren't high.

Today, though, was a lot better--18C or so and overcast. It was even raining slightly--perfectly--when the dog and I jogged this morning. We covered about 8.75 miles. I was so glad to get that run in. That's about my ideal distance for a daily jog: it's long enough to get into a nice frame of mind, if not the zone, and it tires me out just enough that I usually sleep soundly, and feel fine the next day. It really helps my general mood, too. I realized today that perhaps my main goal of running is to get into a long-term habit of that sort, jogging for those 8-10 miles every day. We'll see. The dog held up well today. He was barely panting. He did have to take some poop/pee breaks, though, but mostly in the first 1/2 hour, and then we were able to cruise.

This evening was speedwork, 300 metres. Total run was just under 8 miles. They were faster than last time, but it was cooler.

1:03
1:04
1:06
1:04
1:03
1:07
1:04
1:07
1:02
1:03

They were hard, but ok, and I was able to remember some things about form that I wished to remember, mainly keeping loose and well-aligned, and picking up my feet more--generally, keeping lighter.

In general, I think I'm settling into a nice routine running-wise. The doubles on speedwork days work well. Speedwork is going well. I'm still not 100% happy with the long runs, mainly because I'm adjusting from my longer slower ones to shorter slightly faster ones, but I have plenty of time, and a bunch of 18-20+ milers already behind me. So, I'm in good shape.

My biggest concern is my shoes. I'm going to have to buy more sometime....I didn't track the miles on my current pairs, and I have 4 that I rotate...well, admittedly, I sometimes do my easier runs in older shoes. They seem to last a while, even the light trainers, but I don't want to push it too far. 1000km on a pair of Asics Nimbus was kind of funny, and I suspect that at least one of the pairs of shoes I run in regularly is getting to that point, too....but the thing is, with the light shoes I tend to choose, there's not much cushioning anyway, so they don't seem to feel much different umpteen months down the line. Oh, well.

Oh, I forgot to mention the most fruitful part of my day: a 1.5 hr nap. One of the perks of working a mostly split-shift schedule. :D :D :D :D