Today is the official first day of fall! The start of fall makes me happy and sad. I'm happy for the cooler weather--this summer was dreadful hot. But it also means that winter is not far away, and I don't care much for cold weather. It also means less and less daylight, and I really like the sun. So I guess the only thing I don't like about fall is that it precedes winter, and I don't like winter. So I'll just enjoy the great fall weather while we have it and not worry about winter until it gets here! Living in the moment as it were.
This morning I celebrated the start of fall with my longest run ever: 7 miles. I only stopped to walk once, and that was because I tripped and fell around the 2.5 mile mark. Don't worry, I'm OK--I did a nice tuck-and-roll and only scratched my hand a little. The first 4 miles were a breeze. Around 5.5 miles my legs started cramping but I made myself keep moving forward and I passed the 6 mile mark at a time faster than my last 10K. The last mile I mostly focused on my form and how close I was to being done.. It wasn't easy, but I'm super proud of myself for doing it. 7 miles?! Just a couple months ago I would not have thought it was possible.
A new season is a great time for some new goals. This summer I focused on endurance because I wanted to run a 10K. I got up to 6 miles in my training runs, and ran my first 10K in 1:07.01. This fall I want to get faster and stronger. The only way to race faster is to run faster. There is a fairly new running group in town, and I've ran with them one time so far. We ran 4.5 miles averaging a 7:49 pace. Yeah, that's faster! I was going to incorporate intervals into my training, but I think I'll just run with these guys a couple days a week. I also want to get stronger. I started doing body weight strength training this summer, but have gotten a bit lazy the last couple weeks. This fall I want to strength train 3 days a week, either with free weights or body weight.
What are your health and fitness goals this fall and how will you accomplish them?
Cavegirl Runner
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