Easy does it

Today's Workout: 4.5 mile base run, easy-moderate RPE (fasted)
Summary: 4.92 mi, 47:40 total time, 9:41 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:26, 9:50, 9:45, 9:48, 9:35.

I was honestly feeling real tired last night and was really planning on not running today. Even when I woke up in the morning, I figured I would probably spend my time doing yoga/stretching/bodyweight/core work instead today as a sort of cop-out make-up, but when I saw that it was overcast and cooler today than it was yesterday and it wasn't raining, I decided to just suck it up and take my run. I'm proud of that.

The goal was a 4.5 mile base run, just trying to get back into the swing of things and do better when it comes to the heat/humidity. It was cooler today, 75 F, but humid and slightly drizzly. The humidity is hard, but I guess it's preferable to the heat. One of the things I realized today was that I really need to set clearly defined goals before my workouts and focus only on those things. The goal of today's workout was just to build back into running since I was out of it for almost an entire week and I'm not used to the climate, so I really just wanted to take it easy on the way out, moderate on the way back, and hit at least 4.5 miles of distance. While I was running though, I got a little bit caught up in pacing and wanting to go faster, but that really wasn't the point. Today's run was not an achievement run, it was a run intended to prepare my body for more meaningful workouts down the line. I think I really have to set out these clear goals to focus on before I start my workouts and stick to them so I'm not tempted to go harder than I intend to and wreck the purpose of the run. Sure, some runs are going to be go out hard and try like heck to hang on workouts, but today was about just covering the distance and trying to get that RPE negative split.

Overall I'm happy with today. It was a tad on the slow side but honestly I'm okay with this pace for easing back into things and adapting to the heat/humidity. It was nice that I felt stronger coming back on the hill than I did yesterday because I saved enough in the tank. I went a little further than I planned, but that was mostly because the lights were all in my favour on the way in, so I ran a little bit closer to home before I stopped to walk/cool down. Actually, I just looked at the map and it turns out I had made it almost to the other side of the park, which was about twice as far as what I had thought I was doing, so the thought of circumnavigating the park is much less intimidating now. Also that stretch of road is much nicer and actually contained within the park than I thought it was going to be.

Runs do make me tired though. I'm going to caffeinate up a little bit with some tea before I get on with the rest of my day. As for tomorrow, I will either run a similar distance or maybe take the turn around the corner of the park and try to hit 5-5.5 miles. We'll see how I'm feeling and how much time I have. It'll be an easy-moderate base run regardless though. Glad the weather held up for the run today.

Much love,
Jess