Wind Tunnel

Distance: 1 mile
Time: 7:55
Location: Powhatan Out-and-Back

After a day off yesterday (we were getting our potentially new house inspected), I set out tonight on a short run, just 1 mile out and back along Powhatan Road. My calves have been constantly sore lately, so I cherish each day off and hope that it will be enough for my muscles to heal. But usually when I set out on that run, the first thing I notice is the pain in my calves. It was no different tonight. However, it wasn't so bad that it ruined my run. I was able to push through it, and in spite of the soreness, the first 1/4 mile felt really good. I ran hard and smooth and hardly broke a sweat. But once I neared the halfway point, I could feel myself slowing down. And when I hit the 1/2 mile mark and turned around, to make matters worse, I was hit with a wall of wind. It had been a very windy day up here in the desert, and though it mellowed out slightly when night descended, it was still blowing enough to make things challenging. I battled against the wind the whole way back, but in some ways it allowed me to forget about my sore muscles and concentrate on maintaining a strong pace in the face of this new challenge. For the last 400 meters I forced as good a kick as I could. I ended up with a 7:55. It's actually my second fastest mile since May 2010, even though I felt like I ran slow in the wind. Had I had no wind to deal with, I may have been able to beat the August 2010 time of 7:50. Things are definitely getting better, and I can feel my legs strengthening with each run. My endurance needs work, but usually that's the last thing that happens when conditioning. Muscles build fast, but stamina builds slowly. The one, major missing piece in this training puzzle is longer runs. Two miles is just not going to cut it long term. I ran 3 miles only twice last year. I need long runs before I can really say I've gotten somewhere. And definitely before I can expect to approach my high school PRs.