Fast 4, 4 Me

i ran 4 miles this evening, didn't get to start until about 7pm. i'm telling you, that one extra day of rest really helped. this was my fastest 4 mile run in 2 years, and maybe longer. i started out pretty good (this was supposed to be an 10min/mile pace) and figured i would slow down but i might as well push for a little while. the first 1/2 mile was 4.33, i thought to myself i was not going to be able to hold that pace for the entire run. the next 1/2 mile was 4.27, i tried to slow myself down a little. the next 1/2 mile was 4.24. the hills seemed to be getting the best of me, for the next 1/2 mile, which was 4.34 i thought, here comes the slowdown. the next three 1/2 miles: 4.20. with each 1/2 mile i kept expecting to see 5.00. i felt like i was slowing down and a few times, actually tried to. i finished the last 1/2 mile at 4.35. i actually figured i would be much slower, i was doing all i could to keep my legs moving until i heard the beeper. my total time was 35.37. my shins were hurting just a little at the very end. i figure i will pay for running this run too fast, much faster than my schedule recommended. hope it doesn't effect my long run this weekend. my heart rate did not get within 5 bpm of my highest heart rate. the way i was pushing and breathing i figured it would be way up there. luckily i have a rest day tomorrow.

saw J is still kicking out the miles. i hope he takes a day off before the race, i he is our family's only hope to beat Todd at the houston county 5k this year.

thought of the day:"What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence" Samuel Johnson. i was thinking about what i posted yesterday, "train hard, race easy." this reminded me of that quote a little. i realized that even if you train hard for a race, you will still work hard during the race, but the harder you train, the easier it will be finish in the same amount of time. i hope to one day run marathons with ease, like many of the runners in the magazines, i am trying to be dilligent in my training. one day Jeff and Todd, one day.