3.5 miles - Strong! (easy)

I'm a bit sad that I didn't time tonight's "easy" run.

After my 9-miler on Saturday I knew I should have an easy run for my next one. So I headed out, planning to do my 3.5 mile route, and just take it easy.

The weather was nice and cool (low 60s), overcast, not too humid. I've had a bit of a digestion problem yesterday and today and hoped that wouldn't interfere. I did over-indulge on Sunday and consume almost 800 calories more than I allow myself (considering I'm trying to lose about 20 lb)... but I considered that a deserved reward for my longest run ever. My right knee felt a little sore today, but that might be because I tend to fold that leg under myself when I'm sitting at my desk at work... or might be from the long run.

As soon as I headed out tonight, though, I felt... strong. I was running in an upright posture, my form seemed as close to perfect as I can get, being a late-bloomer, uncoached. My legs felt like they could go as fast as I asked them to. My breathing was even and unhurried, even at what felt like about a 9:30 pace.

I just kept it up, and tried not to think of the words "walk" or "stop" or "slow".

I stopped for water just past the 1-mile point, briefly, and headed into the long steep hill, into Sellwood Park. I conquered the hill and kept going. I kept the pace along the top of the bluff overlooking Oaks Bottom Wetlands, I kept it as I rounded the corner onto where SE 13th Ave becomes Bybee Street.

As I did, I kept thinking: Do I keep going? Do I extend my run, maybe turn up here and follow my 4.0 mile loop instead? Or even keep going down Bybee and then pick up my 5.0 mile loop? How ambitious do I feel? I have just read an article about training "opportunistically" - if you feel weak, don't do the hard runs, and if you feel strong, take advantage of it. I pondered what could be contributing to my strength. It could be the extra calories; certainly starving oneself doesn't make for a good athlete. It could be the cool weather. It could be just that I recovered well from my long run this weekend.

Damn! I wished I'd taken my watch! I'll bet I haven't run this well in months! Or was I running so strongly because I didn't take my watch, so had given myself permission to run as well as I thought?

So many questions. And yet... I ran.

At the turning point, between my 3.5 and 4.0 mile runs... I stayed with the shorter run. I decided that today, I was going to leave a little something on the street, and not wear myself out totally. Not use up all my reserves. It felt... weak. But it's really a decision made out of strength. Learning to pace myself is one of the hardest things to learn, and I wanted to just enjoy the feeling of running strong but not to the point of exhaustion. I wanted to remember this run as a perfect run, start to finish, with no pain and only enjoyment and smiles.

The memory of this run will stick with me for a long time. And that's exactly what I think an easy run should feel like.

Even if I wished I had timed it.