Goodbye Soreness

Time:  20 minutes
Distance:  1.93 miles
Location:  Apple Valley to Sitting Bull

Amazingly, the soreness in my legs was all but gone by the time I went on my run tonight.  My legs were severely sore when I went on a 20-minute run last night, and I figured by running on sore legs I was only going to make it worse tonight.  But as I began stretching before my run I realized that I was feeling pretty good.  In fact, I felt good for the first time this week since starting my running up again.  I set off for another 20-minute run and I immediately felt stronger and able to keep a better form.  I headed south to run the Sitting Bull out-and-back route.  My pace wasn't much quicker than the other runs this week, but I felt more comfortable the whole time.  My breathing was better and my legs felt better.  It's amazing how only a few days of running can make such a difference.  This is only my fourth run this week, and I already feel vast improvement.  I went out a little later tonight than I have been--about 8:30.  It was a nice, even temperature with a slight breeze in the air.  Another pleasant night.  I plan on running tomorrow night, but then I more than likely won't be able to get a run in this weekend.  A couple days of rest, though, would probably be pretty beneficial.  Things are going well so far--I don't want to push it too hard and end up injured.  Looking back at past training periods, there is usually the initial progression of improvement followed by a period of breaking down before recovering and getting back to improving.  I want to try to avoid the "breakdown."  As an end note, another good thing about tonight's run is I was able to get in a little more distance during those 20 minutes.  I went from Sunday's 1.89 miles to 1.93.  Not a big jump, but it's something.