Intervals

We heard the rain begin early this morning while we were still in bed, gently at first, and then when the wind picked up as if buckets of water were being thrown against the windows.

This was not a good morning for running.  I have run in conditions as challenging as this in the past, causing Martha to accuse me of being "not right in the head."  This morning I was right in the head.  The radar on my iPhone looked like this:

But thanks to modern weather forecasting this had been expected; moreover, all my weather apps agreed that it would begin clearing immediately after noon.  We had brought the furniture inside from the balcony in anticipation of the high winds and rain and we were glad we did.

Right on schedule, the rain ceased as if it had been turned off like a faucet a little after 12:00 noon, and in an hour or two the sun was shining.  So we both were able to continue on our running schedule as planned.  We would like to run a 5-K next Saturday, February 2, and the Crystal Coast Half Marathon four weeks after that, so at this point it is important not to miss any important workouts on the ascent up the slope of that steep mountain of slowly improving fitness for racing.

I had run intervals in past years - short distances at race pace or even slightly faster - at the Bath House parking lot; although the exact distance there is unknown (probably close to 200 meters) the effort pays the same dividends in waking up those fast-twitch muscles.  I ran four intervals at 1:07 and felt good the whole time, although during the one-mile cool-down back to the condo I could feel that my quadriceps had been worked hard.  Martha ran five miles, sticking to her own slightly different schedule.

It is a good feeling to run fast again!  (Or, at least, some semblance of fast.)  Still, at my age, I know it is a delicate balance, to push hard but not too hard, and as my running friend Morris always counsels, "Listen to your body."  Today I listened keenly, and everything seemed to sound as it should.