New PR and 1,000 Mile Stats

Two things to post today:  A new PR and a February update towards 1,000 miles.

First things first, over the past couple of weeks a switch has flipped. I don’t know what it is, but I love it. My old race pace is slower than what my current training pace is. I tackle hills with a new sense of ferociousness. 

My body has been like a well-oiled machine, handling long steady runs and short speed workouts with great acclaim. My legs recovery quickly and rarely are they sore (*knocking on wood as I type*).

Whatever the reason is behind this (rest days, innate awesomeness, or winning mental battles), I have seen nothing but results. Let’s take a look at the last 3 races:

Stickman Tandem’s 5K                  19:24     6:15/mile

Heart and Sole 5K                          19:02     6:08/mile

Lose Your Shirt and Shoes             18:43     6:02/mile

Talk about results! In 4 weeks, I shed 13 seconds off of my mile pace with a total of 41 seconds for the total completion of a 5K.

Again, I do not know what to attribute this to. I believe a lot of it comes from the support from others and feeding off of my success from the previous race. We’ll see if the trend continues next week when the last race of the Shenandoah Runner’s Club Winter Series happens.

Secondly, here is where I lie in my quest for 1,000 miles.

I admit, I’ve been slacking. With weather (snow, sleet, cold, and covered sidewalks/roads), many of the days have been spent indoors. And since I hate treadmills, I get 0 miles in on those days. I’m hoping after this polar vortex nonsense passes, along with winter storm Titan, I’ll be able to get back on the horse and plug in more miles. Plus, track season started - I’ll be running almost daily, but now I just need to remember to start my watch whenever I run with the kids.

Here’s where I am at 2 months into the year:

Total miles: 138.31

Where I should be: 164.38

Miles ahead/behind: 26.07

Average Pace: 7:09

Here’s to nice weather, so I can get out more often and for longer runs!

On a complete side note: I found a cool site called Strava. It works with my Garmin device and keeps track of my miles, speed, pace, climb, mile wear on my shoes, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It is similar to Connect.Garmin.Com, but it also has a big social media option. If you want to sign up, go to www.strava.com, complete a profile (or link through your Facebook), and add me as a friend. We can even compare our weekly stats for bragging rights/motivation for one another. Here’s my link. http://www.strava.com/athletes/2261215 (I’m lonely and not following anyone L)