Run just a little bit faster

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

I was happy with the results from the race on Saturday, but feel I could do better.  So I have taken a 2 pronged approach.  On my 'running days' I am running longer, both in time and distance.  On my 'walking days' I am mixing in some running intervals.

For my distance running I had been relying all of this time on the fact that the track I run on is a quarter mile.  Which is pretty standard for most tracks.  Last week I downloaded the Runkeeper App for my phone to keep better track of time and distance since I had moved past the 30 minute runs under the Couch to 5K app.  This is an excellent app, it uses the GPS in the phone to track how far I go.  After the first couple of runs I began to question it though, because when I ran my 16 times around the track I should have been logged as going 4 miles (16 times .25) but the app kept telling me I had run around 3.4 to 3.6 miles.  Well yesterday I turned on the app and walked the track once to get an accurate measurement, and discovered the track is actually .2 miles instead of .25.  Which explains a lot of things.  So now I have to run the track 20 times to get to 4 miles.  Kind of annoying, but at least now I know how far I am really running, which is necessary if I want to track how far I'm going and get to a number I have in my head.

For my walks I have been content to just try and maintain a good pace.  But this week I decided to try and get back to mixing in some running on the walk.  But instead of just mixing in some jogging I decided to mix in some serious all out sprinting.  In talking to a friend who is a triathlete he recommended that kind of mix to really build up my endurance.  I did some of that on Tuesday, and a little today.  I'll admit, after the longer run yesterday, and heavier workout Tuesday the sprints today were not easy, particularly the last leg.  But I finished it, and while my legs are sore I feel real good otherwise.  There is something freeing about running full on flat out for at least some distance. 

So that's the state I am in on the running, not exactly ready for the Pikes Peak Ascent, but still getting stronger, and feeling soooooo much better about myself and life in general.