Day 120, 245 To Go

April 30, 2013

It is the end of another month of running: my fourth in a row.  I like to take the time at this break in our calendar to reflect on my experience so far.  Also, I have to get all my numbers together so I can report on my time and miles for the month.  That is actually quite tedious.  I suppose if I updated my spreadsheet daily, it would be much easier. 

I'm kind of a procrastinator though, so that doesn't happen and it may take a few days to get those numbers together.  Anyway, back to reflection.

April was my first month running 20 minutes every day.  At first, it was hard and that extra five minutes felt like an eternity, but now, I am completely used to it and if I ran only 15 minutes, it would feel too short.  I like the 20 minute run because it is more challenging in a few ways.  First, of course, it is more challenging because of the extra miles I am running each week.  It also makes my fast days more challenging because I get about 15 minutes of hard running.  I also have a visible goal in that if I reach the gate in my development, I know I have run fast.  I even got past the gate one week.  Another benefit is the extra calories I burn every day.  I am starting to see a difference because of that too.

April was also a month of renewal.  Honey was back in the mix this month and she has been consistently running, especially the past couple of weeks.  With the purchase of the roller blades, she even has another outlet for exercise.  She is a reluctant convert to a life of exercise, but converting her I am!  I hope she hangs in there for long enough to start to see and feel the results.  Right now, she only feels the pain!

I had a good race in April which was great but it also showed me where I need to improve.  I need to improve my cycling and I need to swim more.  My running was ok, but I need to be more consistent with my tempo runs which push me and make me faster.  You would think that running every day would do that, but it really doesn't since I am not running very fast most of the time.  So, I need to focus my training better.

The last run of the month wasn't anything too special, just a regular Tuesday night run.  Here are my numbers:

Time: 20:00

Distance: 2.20 miles

Pace: 9:06/m

Max Pace: 7:09/m

Calories: 284

Avg HR: 131

Max HR: 145

So, I ended the month on a decent note.  May will bring more of the same.  I hope I remain healthy and I hope Honey keeps going too.  Goodbye April.  I'll see you next year!

Run for Life!