Saturday March 10 11:00 AM Scheduled 7 Mile Run. Sunny and 47 Degrees with 14 mph winds. It was very icy this morning with all of the recent meltoffs so I ran a little later and was I happy I did. It was absouletely beautiful day for a run. I was very comfortable in just shorts and a long sleeve tee, I didn't even need gloves. This was the first time that I had run this course for 7 miles but the first part I have used for a 5 and a 6 mile run before. It seemed like the first 2 miles went without notice and when I turned to head West into the 1st uphill section of the run it got pretty breezy. Fortunately the hills seemed to be knocking some of the wind down. When I made my next turn to head Northeast and pass my 4 mile mark the wind was at my back and I was still feeling pretty comfortable. I thought I actuall had a chance to finish with out any walks and that seemed to pull me up the last really hilly part of the run. Everything went well untill my hamstrings started to tighten slightly around the 6.5 mile mark but by then unless I all out cramped I didn't think that would be a problem. I made the last short hill with plenty of juice and the last 2 blocks down hill felt like a victory lap. I finally did it 7 whole frickin miles and no walking in 1:30:45. This was roughly 3 minutes faster than I ran 6.5 miles in last fall. This couldn't have come at a better time as the crap runs I have been having recently with 4's and 5's had me questioning what I was going to do when the mileage started getting up there. This is very encouraging for my training and it could not have come at a better time. Next week 8 Miles
