The 7:30 Project

Spring in the Park 10K is next Saturday (April 27th) - so that means I am nearly at the end of my training for this race. When I set the goal of a 7:30 min/mile average pace, I felt I had all the time in the world to get back to my fast-pace shape. Reality, however, often has other ideas. Training has been spotty. The weather these past months has been less than ideal for running outside, and I am not a treadmill person. Nonetheless, I took advantage of any opportunity to run outside to get most of my workouts done - but I have to admit that I wasn't always compliant with my training plan! One thing I did become acutely aware of, during my cold-weather running days, is that I am prone to exercise-induced asthma. Any effort in the cold leaves me gasping, forcing me to slow down or walk a bit to catch my breath. It is not pleasant, and it is definitely a barrier to performance that I didn't have to deal with in my past. I have an Albuterol inhaler, I just need to remember ...

I left the house overdressed, of course. It's been a thing for me for the past few years. I'm less tolerant of the cold, but around here cold is part of the deal. Spring is tricky. We run the gamut from snow and ice to rain and dreariness to warm and windy, sometimes all in the same day. When I first got serious about running, decades ago, I don't remember having to grapple this much with weather conditions. My 'just do it' attitude got me out the door without thinking a whole lot about what I was running into (literally) - but I took it all in stride. (Sorry for all the unintentional running puns today!). Nowadays I tend to procrastinate. A lot. If it weren't for a race on my calendar, and a crazy (some might say ill-informed) race goal, I'm not sure if I would be this consistent in my training. Know what I found to be the leading cause of procrastination? NOT HAVING A FULL TIME DAY JOB! Seriously, when I worked full time and had to be at work in...