So speedwork really works??? Interesting....

I walk about 3.4 miles every work day at lunch on a rail-to-trail park section. Recently Oakland County, within the past 4 years or so, has converted the old railroad system into a paved, or at least surfaced, trail network. The Clinton River Trail (trailheads at Sylvan Lake and Shelby Twp.) is 16.6 mile long. At either trail head is where it meets up with other such trails.

In effect, you could run a marathon and not loop back or turn around. Pretty nice.

Last night I decided, after work, to run my 2 miles scheduled on the trail I walk at lunch.

A few notes here - 1. it is freaking HOT as this portion of the trail is surfaced in asphalt. Retains heat nicely. 2. There is little to no hade for a lot of the run. 3. Little to no wind, except when you are crossing I-75 (there is a trail bridge that takes you over the expressway)

Due to these three items alone I think that this would be best run in the AM or after it cools down at night. But the trail system is a good 40 minutes away from where I live. :(

Regardless, it was only for 2 miles and I had my Accelerade with me, so I was well taken care of.

What I thought was amusing, was that I started my run and it felt good. I glanced down at the Garmin to make sure that it had a good ignal, and saw that I was running.... a 10:20 pace.

A half mile later and I was still at that 10:20 pace. *big smile* Due to little shade, no wind, and the heat (it was in the 90's... not deadly, but not wonderful) I slowed down a little and then walked to round out the 1st mile in 11:16. Not bad at all for a historical 12 minute mile runner.

I turned around and headed back. This is where I walked a lot, not due to exhaustion or tired legs or being winded, but due to the HEAT and beating SUN. Two things I love... when I am at the beach or by the pool. Two things I hate when I am running.

The sweat was pouring down my face so badly that my sunglasses started to fall off of me. I was carrying a water bottle in one hand, my iPod in the other (the clip broke on Sunday's 4-miler), and now had to rest my sunglasses on top of my visor for the last 1/4 mile. Not terrible - just not comfortable.

I rounded out the 2 miles in just over 26 minutes. Again, not bad given that I had walked 1/2 mile on the return at a snail's pace to help cool my body temp down.

The moral of the story kids... speed work pays off. I think so does my strength training efforts as well. Oh and loosing weight cannot hurt, right?

It was funny because last night as we were leaving for the gym after dinner, the temp had dropped enough to where it felt really good. Perfect running temps. I kicked myself for not waiting until later on at night. Today I got up at 5AM, but was sore and a little groggy, so I went back to bed. LMAO - dedication at its finest!

I will run my 3.5 miles this evening at around 8:30PM- 9;00PM. That should be cool enough.

Well I am off to get ready for work. Have a wonderful day! Take care, and keep on running!

~})i({ Runner Girl