Wow. Cripes. This morning I had one of those runs which you almost wish you could repeat over and over, but when you've been running enough, you realize that they certainly can't happen all the time and that when they do happen, think of them as a reward for the long-term effort you've been putting in.
This week has been mostly dreary. Cloudy, rainy, chilly. There was sun on Friday, but it was wet and murky again yesterday. This morning, windy, but sunny. Glorious sun. So I went out to run for a while, wasn't sure how long I'd go, just let the legs decide. I kind of expected them to be tired some, I had a running streak of 9 days and almost 54 miles going. So I just set out relaxed and easy and didn't take a peek at the watch until it beeped indicating a mile had gone by.
I expected to see maybe 10:05 to 10:15 on it. I had been very conscious about keeping everything reined in. Instead the watch says 9:43.
So I went with it and the good feeling rhythm that felt so effortless, rolled up and down the hills and into wind and wind at my back and crosswinds. Just all of it rolling by underneath me. I did take it up a notch for the last couple of miles and finally closed out with 10 miles in 1:35:16.
I'm beginning to think some that I'm now also reaping some fitness gain from the half-marathon 2 weeks ago.