Run For Steem: 8 Mile Redemption Run

Happy Tuesday folks!  It has been a blast to start getting more into the running community on here.  Looks like a lot of other people are gearing up for spring racing season, so I will be excited to see how everyone does with hitting their goals!  My first half is getting closer and closer, and I'm feeling pretty confident about it even though I am not really worried about a specific time goal for this one.

As always, if you are interested in joining the #runforsteem initiative check out @jumowa's latest post with all of the entry information here: https://steemit.com/runforsteem/@jumowa/weekly-run-for-steem-challenge-feb-19th-feb-26th-and-payout-for-last-week.  It's a great way to stay motivated each week!  I also joined up with the @runningproject last week, so there are a few spots to catch up with the fleet-feeted folks of Steemit. ;)

Since I hit 10 miles last week, I wanted to scale back a bit this week before I finish out my long training runs with 11 miles next week.  Although I shared how it is not my favorite distance a few weeks ago, I dropped back down to the dreaded 8 again today.  I had to take my car in for servicing this morning, so I was able to squeeze my run in instead of sitting on my butt in the waiting room.  Might as well make that time count, right?

It is ridiculously muggy here today.  I think it was low 60's for temperature with about 96% humidity.  Not my favorite running conditions, but not every day can be perfect for running. ;)  It may get close to 80 for the high today (it is still February, right?) so I probably timed my run well going out while it was at least cooler.  I started out in a long-sleeve shirt, but quickly peeled off that layer despite the very fine mist.

Since I was starting from the automotive shop I didn't get as much of my usual warmup so I made sure to take the first mile slow to warm up.  I felt really good about the halfway point.  My legs starting feeling a little tired around mile 7, but this run had more hills than the trail course I did a few weeks ago.  I definitely felt a whole lot better than my run a few weeks ago.  When I got back home I pulled up that run for comparison.

Today:

February 6th:

I was about 6 minutes faster overall today!  I wasn't really trying to push that hard, but it makes me feel really confident that I was able to improve in just a few weeks.  Now I know a good bit of it was the mental progression getting back into the higher distances, but that's ok by me!

I'll try to get a few more shorter runs in this week with at least one speed session.  I'm hoping the weather will cooperate with me to get my 11-miler in next Tuesday.  I almost forgot I did sign up for a 5k a week from Saturday, so that will be fun to bust out a short fast race the week before my half.

I hope everyone else hits the trails or pavement hard this week!