Recently in Running Category

Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to win any medals. I'm not going to win any local or regional races, even in my age category.¹ But for me, today's run was very good.



The distance, 6.21 miles, is almost exactly a 10-K distance, which is respectable, but not a distance that would impress any serious runner. My time, 48:14, is a personal best for me, which is why I'm so happy with today's run, but that's only 7:46 per mile. That's very good for me, but barely a jog for anyone who's really serious about running.

Two other things make me very happy about today's run:

1. My total distance for the year just passed 1000 miles.²
2. I planned today's run as a race against myself last January.³ It's been my target all year, and I beat it.

Sorry to brag,⁴ but I'm feeling pretty good about myself today.

This wasn't particularly long (less than 6 miles) or particularly fast (only about 8:05 per mile), but given the elevation change, I'm pretty pleased with it. It's a little over a minute slower than my best time, but it's still pretty good.

3.33 miles in 25:34 (7:40 per mile) isn't going to win me any races, even in my age category, but I feel pretty good about it. If you click on the title or on "View Details", you'll go to the full page at Garmin Connect where you can see the elevation profile. (My heart rate monitor wasn't seated properly, so the track you see for it is a little wacky.) It doesn't look like much, and compared to what runners in good shape would think of as hilly it isn't much, but most of that 184 feet of elevation gain comes over a half mile just before the end. That's almost a 7 percent grade. Not too bad for me.