Three in a Row?

Somehow, over the past three days, I have managed to string together three really, surprisingly good runs. Not the fastest ever, but I felt strong and satisfied each time. I don't know what's happening, or how long it will last, but I'm really happy.

Saturday I did my regularly scheduled long run, which ended up being just seven miles. I had planned to go eight, but I was feeling strong and steady and decided at 6 to finish at seven with a faster last mile. Finish wanting more, I guess. Sunday's run turned into a five mile tempo. The middle three miles weren't blazingly fast by any stretch, but they were fast enough to feel hard and I was strong enough to keep going. And while I tried to recover in the fifth mile, I opened it up the last quarter and felt great.

We're back to summer schedules this week, so while my older son was at basketball camp, my little guy and I took to the Outer Harbor's bike path for the first stroller run of the year. It was a beautifully sunny morning, high sixties with little wind. I'll admit the path away from the waterfront was sunny and warm, and half of our route today was covered in goose poop (my son thought that was the best part). But after a slow warmup mile to get the legs and arms and brain used to pushing the stroller, the next three miles were under eight-minute pace. Which isn't setting any world records, I know. But it was faster than I thought it would be considering my relative lack of fitness, currently, and lack of stroller-running practice.  We covered a nice little four mile out-and-back, and I'm sure I'll be doing more of this in the coming weeks. I'll bring my older son along on his bike; truth be told I wish my little guy could keep up on his training-wheeled bike, but for now the stroller will have to do.

The cost of this photo was a no-time-limit visit to the new playground.

So, after three days of strong, solid running, I feel like I might be back on the path to where I want to be. I haven't been able to string together two solid runs in a row since way back in marathon training. For now, I'm happy with how it's going. 

The reward.