I've Got That Running Feeling!

I felt like running today.  Wasn't sure what the run would be like.  My legs were a little sore, probably from my squats and lunges yesterday, but not bad.  I just started like I usually do, running down the hill in front of my house and then starting my one mile climb immediately.  Lately, I've been just running up the hill easy and comfortably, and that was my intention today, but I immediately realized that I was in store for something else today!

As I ran the lower portion of the climb, I realized that I was running faster than normal, though my effort wasn't quite as hard.  I seemed to want to really run.  I didn't throttle back, nor did I push harder.  Instead, I just kept focused on my leg turnover and the feeling of running.  I wasn't sure what would happen next, though as I hit flatter segments, I was able to keep a nice pace.  Surprisingly, when I started hitting some greater pitches in elevation, I still felt good, and still felt fast.  In fact, I glanced down at my watch and saw myself maintaining a pace of around 8:30.  When I hit the steepest part of the climb, at the end, I pushed.  Not too hard, albeit, it was definitely hard, but not extreme.  My pace dropped closer to 10:30 pace as I neared the end.  Lately, if I'm doing this run comfortably, my pace will get closer to 13-14 minutes per mile at this point.  I was doing something right.

When I got to the top of the hill, I slowed to a walk.  Ultimately, I ran this uphill mile at around 9:10 pace.  Not my fastest, but I wasn't trying to run it as fast as I could, I was just trying to stay comfortable and fast.  I'm not sure where this came from, although it may be a combination of my training and my state of mind.  I walked a couple of minutes before pushing the next downhill portion of the run.  On the flatter portion, I started out around 8:30 pace, and then pushed on the rest of the downhill, actually getting my pace down closer to 6 minute pace for a little while.  After walking another couple of minutes, I hit the third mile comfortably hard, keeping my pace right around 8 minutes per mile.  I finished with a few 200m sprints which were close to 6 minute pace.  I've got that running feeling!