The “PR”

So after running five days the week before last the weather once again took a turn for the worse last week and I didn’t run at all. I could have gutted out one or two runs if I was really motivated, but with highs most days below 40 degrees and no certainty of whether or not the Chicago Marathon will even happen this fall I just didn’t see the point. Yesterday and today the highs were in the 50s and so I started running again. After doing five miles at 7:35 pace yesterday I ran my five mile “PR” today, clocking 7:29 pace, including the last three miles in 7:23, 7:22, and 7:23. Not fast I know, but given how up and down my training has been I’ll certainly take it. It looks like Spring is finally here to stay in Chicago, so I am planning to really try to stick to five runs a week and gradually ramp up the long run a mile a week, including six tomorrow.

Faster

After four consecutive days of running I took two days off. This morning I ran another five miles at by far the fastest pace since I started back up again—7:32. This was a full ten seconds per mile faster than my last two five milers, and I must say was a confidence builder. I know it’s ridiculous to think I could just start where I left off after having not run or worked out at all for three weeks, but for some strange reason I did. There was even a dumb part of me that wondered if the deterioration in my fitness was COVID-19 related. Thus, it feels really good to run two miles longer than I did six days ago at an eight seconds per mile faster pace.

The Comeback (Again)

Today was my third day in a row of running, with a mile added each day. The good news is I ran the five miles at a lightly faster pace (7:42) than yesterday when I ran four miles (7:44) and just a bit slower than the three miles on Sunday (7:41). So I guess that’s progress. It shouldn’t surprise me that I lost so much fitness in three weeks, but I have to admit it kind of does. It’s also amazing to me that this is now the third time since I started training that I had to take a fair amount of time off and nearly “start from Ground Zero” again. It’s also weird doing all this running outside after having gotten so used to treadmill running. The one benefit is all this time off has been GREAT for my left leg—the pain is completely gone.

Starting Over Once Again

Well as everyone that is not living under a rock has figured out, the COVID-19 coronavirus has become a full-blown global pandemic since my last post. As a result, my gyms closed and it became really difficult for me to run. Don’t get me wrong—there has been nothing preventing me from running outside, but given my lack of proper cold weather running gear and my general hatred of cold weather running I took a few weeks off. A couple of weeks ago I bought three pairs of running tights, three long sleeve running tops, a headband, and a windbreaker (which hasn’t arrived yet), so I kind of ran out of excuses.

This afternoon I took my first run since March 15th and boy have I lost fitness! I struggled through three miles at 7:40 pace. I actually feel O.K. with the pace, although I was surprised that three miles felt so hard on me from a cardiovascular perspective. It just kills me that just when I was finally starting to get back to a decent level of fitness the world decided to start coming to an end. Obviously with this pandemic I have to keep things in perspective, but this has just been a really strange last several months. It could all be for naught anyway, as I have no assurances there’s even going to be a marathon in October...