Wednesday

Home by 4:30 and running by 4:45, just in time to witness the last glimmer of daylight slip beyond the horizon. I clicked on my headlamp only to find it had less than 3 minutes of battery life, so I headed for the track. Both tracks I ran to were occupied by large groups, so my options were to either hit the roads with rush hour traffic or to run home, drive to the gym, and take a ride on the dreadmill. I opted for the former, and chose roads I know to be super smooth and generally clear of debris.

At this point I was just looking for any kind of harder effort. I ran 4 x mile with 800m of cruising recovery (7 min pace). My miles were 5:25, 5:21, 5:34 (hilly) and 5:25. Short cooldown for 9.5 on the day.

I felt pretty good overall, but I definitely miss running in the daylight and having the option to hit the trails. I think running in the dark slows me down just a small amount because I'm constantly wary of injuring myself, especially when my headlamp isn't working. I can't wait for the days to start getting longer and to feel the approach of spring. More than anything, I want to feel fast again! Hopefully a hard effort over the weekend will get me one step closer. Although, to run at the level I'm aiming for, improving my consistency to at least 6 days a week of quality running is probably the most important determinant. Meanwhile... I'll try to respect and enjoy the process.