Starting up again

This weekend I ran my first and second races since the marathon. Seeing as I have barely developed a consistent running schedule in last 5 weeks, it should not be surprising that I have not done much along the lines of speed work during this time as well. So expectations were low this weekend.

Thursday night was the first of the Charles River Summer Series – a 4.2 mile loop around the Charles. I was eager to run Thursday, but not much in the mood for the race. The rain had held off most of the day and then started with on and off showers as I got dressed to leave the house. But running in the rain in May is not nearly as bad as running in the rain in January, so I was headed out. Miles 1 and 2 went fairly well, maintaining about a 7:25 pace – reasonable for this race for me. While I didn’t feel tired, miles 3 and 4 were just slower. I couldn’t pick up the pace. While the race results say I finished with a 7:26 pace, I’d argue I was a bit closer to 7:35. Still faster than I would have run if I had just gone out on my own.

Today was the Harpoon 5 Miler. I have missed this race the last 2 summers while injured and was excited to be back. After Thursday’s performance, I still did not expect much, but hoped I could finish under 39:00. Starting out I felt pretty good. After I finished Mile 2 in 6:13, I knew I wasn’t feeling that good and the mile marker was off. Mile 3 took me 9:43 and although I realized it made up for the short Mile 2, I was still a bit disheartened. I didn’t think my effort felt that easy, but that meant I had slowed to about an 8+ minute per mile pace. It felt like the second half of Thursday’s race all over again.

So, screw it. I decided to just run the rest of the race, pushing myself but not obsessing over my watch. I finished running hard, but feeling good. 37:36 – 7:32 pace. Better than the low expectations I had set for myself and 16 seconds per mile faster than I had run this race last time in 2008.

Most of all, racing this weekend made me want to run more again. And fast. No promises that I’ll keep a consistent training schedule this summer, but I will be more inclined to start up some speed workouts again. I’ve got a few more PRs from the summer of 2008 I plan to break.