Another Good Day

  So do to extreme laziness I decided not to write an entry last night.  I am happy to say though that I had another great run last night.  As always, I was feeling pretty exhausted towards the end of the day, but the fact that it turned out to be another great day in Dec with temps in the 40's helped give me the motivation to fit in my run.  So like Saturday, it was mild with temps in the 40's and barely any wind at all.  The difficult part about run, like most of my other mid week runs, is that they take place at night ... in the dark. 
  The goal for this run was to get in 3.5 miles.  Right from the start I knew it was going to be a good run.  I got into a good rhythm early and kept a good pace without feeling like I was over working it.  I completed my first mile in ~ 9:06 and was worried that at this pace I was going to gas out before my 3.5 mi were up.  I kept telling myself just to keep a good pace and that if I felt like I was going to gas to back off a little bit.  I made turn down E 1st street in just over 18 minutes.  This turn marks the two mile point in my runs and really help serve as a reminder that my training is already starting to pay off.  Just a few weeks ago I vividly remember being gassed to the point that I actually had to stop and walk for two minutes at this turn and now I was running through it at about 1 minute faster than I had expected. 
   My normal run takes me down E 1st St towards castle island, which during the day is my favorite place to run.  It really gives amazing views of the city when you hit the far part of the loop.  At night, however, there are some sketchy people hanging out down there so I choose to stay on the close part and just run around the part of the water close to broadway.  As I made my way back down East Broadway towards home I heard our Garmin watch beep signaling that another mile had passed.  I looked down to see what my time was for my third mile and much to my surprise it was 8:56!   While I was happy with the pace I was keeping, I knew I still had the hardest part of my run ahead of me ... the big hill that encompasses about 1/4 mile where N / M streets intersect broadway.  I just made sure I dug it out and then recovered some of my time on the down hill.  I ended up crossing K / E 2nd St ... which normally serves as my finsh line in ~32 minutes with a total distance of 3.6 miles.
   Overally, this run helped me a lot.  During points of the run I realized that the conditioning was coming along especially since I put really good runs together in a row:  First my 6 miles in 56 minutes for distance, and then a good pace run of 3.5 in 32 minutes.  I am also started to realize that this blog helps me as well because I am able to reflect back on these experiences.  I helps me to realize the improvements I am making and also helps me keep focus on both my short term and long term goals.
   Unfortunately, no runs today.  As I am working overnight at Shattuck I really didn't have any time to fit in training today.  Tomorrow is going to be a challenge as I have always had difficulty mustering up the energy to work out after these 30 hour shifts even if I do get a couple hours of nap time in.  My goal is going to be to do an interval 2 mile run.  I figure keeping the workout to < 20 minutes should help keep me motivated to do it.  Guess we will see.