Not Dead, Yet

Well, I must admit that I was a little concerned. In the last 9 runs, I had only had 2 when I ran under 8 minutes per mile. Granted, I was sick and didn't run for 8 days during that time but the time frame also coincided with using a new pair of shoes (Brooks GTS 7). Still, it's been a very long time when I had run more than one run a month that was slower than 7:59 mpm, so I couldn't figure what was going on. Was my age catching up with me -- I'm almost 53? Had my runs with others who run a bit slower reset my natural pace? Was it just taking extraordinarily long to recover from my cold? Was I over-training?

While I still don't know why and I may run more slowly tomorrow, it was reassuring today to hit 7:44 mpm.

Random thoughts today:

1. It's great to hear the birds at 5:00 am.
2. The flowering trees are pretty even in the moonlight.
3. Drivers in Richmond's West End (Short Pump) seem unusually polite. Yesterday was the first time in almost 2 years that anyone has even hooted at me. The vast majority of drivers see me and give me plenty of room.
4. There are some traffic lights that seem to get farther away the more I run toward them.
5. Why can't my wife and I get a clear word from God about a decision we're trying to make? How patient will those who are waiting for us to make the decision be? Is the lack of a clear word really a clear word that we should just continue with things as they are?
6. It's only 6° warmer today than yesterday. It's odd that it feels much warmer. (When I got home, I found out that the temperature had actually risen by 3° while I was running. In contrast to dropping 2-3°, as on the last several mornings, I guess the difference was really more like 8-9°.

Run well,
Bob