Thursday, July 26, 2018

Summer Run Streak, Day #63

I go under in the pacific
I rise in the Atlantic
I was born at the Atlantic, and so I've finally come home
two years later and seven months into the year
I'm awake and moving

*****

Tomorrow I'm racing the Blessing of the Fleet 10 miler. It will be the sixth time I've run the race.

I first ran the Blessing back in 2013. I don't know how many times I'd run ten miles by that point, but I'd heard good things about the event, and was told it was a "had to" kind of race for Rhode Islanders. I wasn't let down. The crowds were huge, the parties were raucous. I had so much fun I decided to go back.

Blessing of the Fleet (by the numbers)

2013: 1:16:30, 7:39/mile
2014: 1:17:30, 7:45/mile
2015:1:17:27, 7:44/mile
2016: 1:23:06, 8:18/mile
2017:1:23:03, 8:18/mile

Like a lot of my running career, I was so much faster in my first year. I was a lot lighter then, too. I was pretty consistent, too, and you could actually chalk some of the time in 2014-2015 to conditions. But come 2016 and 2017 I was really taking it easy, preparing for other things on the horizon.

I'd like to get back to that place where I can run the ten under 8/mile, but the truth is the ten milers I run in July have always just been for fun. I'm not super competitive at the distance, and it's a tough time of year for me to put that work in. This year I attempted to follow a half marathon plan, but I broke my toe, so I felt like speed work and hill work were just not in the cards if I wanted to keep moving.

So tomorrow we'll see what I've got in me. I don't want to injure myself worse, of course. So we'll have to see what the day has in store for me.

Tonight was an easy three miles just to keep used to the humidity, and I was actually feeling really good. Felt pretty light, and had an easy gait. I'm optimistic that will be the case tomorrow!

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