Two in Row ... who would have thought

I have had two great runs in a row. This is following a week that showed steady progress through the week. Call me butter because I am on a roll. (sorry a little casino humor from my days as a dice dealer). Today I went out for an easy 5. Seems strange to say such a thing. Easy 5, in March I would have laughed at such a statement. But anyway. I was up at 5 am and out the door at 5:30. Those who have read my posts before have experienced my whining about my miserable first miles. But I have come to understand that mile 1 has been setting the tone for the rest of the run. So the more I concentrate on mile 1, the better the rest of the run will be. If I get off too slow it will be a slow run.

My goals for easy are 14:00 or better. My schedule says 15:00 but that is too slow for me right now. Today broke down as follows.

Mile 1: 13:26
Mile 2: 13:25
Mile 3: 13:45 (I took on some water at the beginning of mile 3)
Mile 4: 13:35
Mile 5: 13:27

I can't say how pleased I am. If it was possible for me to be tickled pink I would be. I felt solid the whole way. I think I am finding my rhythm and pace. It really is a matter of putting in the miles. With the miles comes the experience to understand your body while running. I am getting that.

Interesting note maybe only to me. A small community of beavers is now living in Pennypack Park. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on my on Sunday when I saw one scurry out of wood pile. But today I saw a couple swimming with small sticks in the creek. This should be interesting. When I was a teenager living in New Hampshire, I am a country lad by birth, a group of beavers took up residence a quarter mile behind my father's home in Hooksett, N.H. They flooded out a nice size area including part of a cemetery. We will see what happens here. The park folks are there everyday so I don't worry too much.

Last Night:
Cross training notes - Last night I threw about 500 hand strikes (punches, elbows, finger strikes, and chops), 300 kicks (front kicks, side kicks, round kicks and back kicks), 150 crunches, 100 side crunches and 50 leg raises. I was reading about core body workouts and wanted to take care of that sooner rather than later.