A mechanical run

No, not mechanical like lego, tinkertoys, meccano, or the like. Though it's true that some of my runs have felt that way.

Today I mean that I was thinking about the mechanics of running. All the time. I started with some stretching and limbering up. Walked a few minutes and ran easy to Anderson and 37. From there I started running a bit quicker. It felt fairly good from the start, but I wanted to concentrate on running form. So for the entire run, my attention went from my turnover, to my elbows, to my shoulders, to my knees, to my core, to, to, to, well, everywhere. Back and forth. I'd think about one thing and get it tuned in, and then something else would need attention.

It's not that everything else was shite while I was thinking about something in particular, far from it. This was actually a pretty good run. But I was aiming at trying to run really well, as if Katie had hired a video crew to follow me. So I'd be thinking about running with light quick feet, and gradually I didn't have to think about it quite so much. Towards the end of the run when I'd normally be getting tired, my feet were actually feeling better than when I started.

It turns out to be 3.75 K from Anderson and 37 St up to the reservoir path. I made it up there in 23 minutes flat, while still getting my stride together. The way back is more uphill, and that took me 23:40. The numbers summary:
3.75 K in 23 minutes 6:08/K pace
3.75 K in 23:40 is 6:18/K pace
7.5 K in 46:40 is 6:13/K pace
And I could have easily kept this up to the 10K mark at least. No idea where the wheels would have fallen off the wagon.

What's good about this is that I wasn't trying to run fast, I was trying to run well, and was willing to let my breathing ramp up a bit if necessary. What's interesting about it is there is a stride that I have often run at where there is a certain intensity of breathing, and yet running faster than that, if I'm careful, doesn't really make me breath any harder. I was experimenting with that place today by varying stride length and body lean a bit.

This run felt fairly strong, but not particularly pushing it. I was up near the top of zone 3 but my breathing never really got beyond deep and even. My feet and legs felt light and fast. As I was walking back I was thinking I could run some more. After all, it was a beautiful evening for a run. I refused to let the walkers who hadn't heard of "keep right" ruin my night.