The Madness of Running

I’m really regretting that decision to take the bag with the camera cord out of my car.

Today’s Exploit:

I spent the last 2 days reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  It was fascinating.  I couldn’t put it down.  Not only was it an intriguing journey, it was packed with research and facts and runners’ stories.  

After the first day of reading I went out to try to implement El Caballo’s lesson.  Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast.  I focused on easy and light.  

I spent so much concentration on being easy I forgot to check my time until I turned around at 1.4 miles.  It only took me just over 10 minutes.  So I did some calculating on the way back, after a nice chat with the gate guard and a cleaning by the dog, to figure out about how fast I was actually going.  

10.6 minutes/1.4 miles = 7.6 minutes per mile! 

All that calculating slowed me down on the way back and I ended up with a second split of about 12 minutes.  

Even with a 2 minute bread to talk to the gate guard I ran 3 miles in 24 minutes.  

THAT HAS BEEN MY GOAL FOR YEARS!!!

And I did it without even thinking about it.  How is that possible?  I spent so many runs pushing and pushing to reach that time, and I end up doing it when I’m trying to run easy.  

GAH.

Anyway.  I like this book.  You should read it.