Managed to get out and back from a five miler before darkness set in this afternoon. It was still very cold (high 20’s) but at least the wind wasn’t too strong tonight. My goal was to run for five miles total with a couple of faster miles thrown in for good measure.
The first mile was quite a leisurely 7 minutes 45 seconds (which to be honest felt faster than the clock displayed) so I upped the pace a little and recorded a 7:11 second mile. As my right shin was very sore tonight (maybe from the 11 miler yesterday), I headed to the local soccer fields to run on the flat, compact grass. The fields were hard in places from the snow and ice, but soft and squishy in others where the snow had melted. Would have made a great cross country course!
The next three miles were all almost identical – 6:55, 6:56 and 6:56 – and before I knew it I was back home. Nice to get a couple of faster miles in and despite the cold and a sore right shin, the workout was very enjoyable.
Oh yes, before I forget, tonight I also completed the first workout of Week 5 of the Essential Abs plan which turned out to be much tougher than the previous 4 weeks! My abs are feeling like they’ve had a good workout, so maybe the plan is starting to be effective? No doubt I’ll wake up in the morning feeling like I’ve been beaten up with a baseball bat! Is it all worth it?? Sure it is…