Start time: 05/30/05, 1:00pm
Location: Local Neighborhood
Distance: 5 miles
Run:Walk ratio: 5:1
Average pace: 10:01min/mile

It’s bee a while since I went running in my own neighborhood—my weekday runs have been on the W&OD Trail as of late, but being Memorial Day and all my normal group’s plans were in flux, so I figured I’d give the old 1.25-mile loop a few spins. I’d forgotten how annoying it is to have to wait for traffic (which I got zapped on the second and third loops, waiting a good twenty seconds each time for cars who’d gotten a green turn arrow to all pull through). More importantly, I ended up having my old friend “stitch-in-side” show up for about half of the run. I think I really need to pay more attention to my breathing; I focused on deep inhaling and exhaling and it was completely gone, so it’s good to know there’s an easy solution, at least.

And, as an added bonus, it was nice to hit my old “5-in-50” finishing time with the new ratio. (Well, technically five miles in 50:06, but close enough.) It’s taken me a little bit of getting used to but I seem to have finally found my way with it. Even better, this closes out May with the most milage for a month all year… heck, the most milage I’ve had in May ever, a total of 61.3 miles. Yay!

(Mile-and-a-quarter splits: 12:03, 12:43, 12:46, 12:32. Since the second and third loops had both the stitch and the traffic, I’m not complaining!)