Day Two of 40-minute runs

Here's today's run.

Today's run measured at 3.2 miles at 39:48, but it was also shorter in distance as well as time. Unfortunately, Google maps is not very precise, but you just need to have a rough idea of your distance. The upshot is that I did not go out quite as far as Monday. I hit the 20 minute mark one house shorter than the day before.

It's just a matter of adjusting to the new route. I'd noticed Monday that I was going more downhill on the way out and therefore more uphill on the way back. Today, I think I overcompensated by going out too easy on the way out because I knew I was going to have to work harder on the way back.

I also realized the variations in the incline. It's not all downhill on the way out, but it trends that way.

The thing to remember with hills is that if you start and finish at the same spot and come back the same way, for every hill you climb it will pay you back with momentum on the other side. When I ran cross-country a million years ago, we used that to our advantage in a races. We would try to attack the hills, not slow down, and then just as we reached the top try to accelerate, open our stride and use the downward momentum on the other side of the hill to break away from our opponent.

I don't run like that anymore. Nowadays, if someone else is out there with me, I'm more likely to see if I can keep pace with them. But stride is key. The longer your stride, the fewer steps you need to take, the more distance you can cover with less energy.

To get a sense of stride, just stand with your feet together, then take one step with one foot and leave the other foot where it was. The distance between your feet is your stride, how much distance you cover with one step. An easy way to increase your stride while running is to keep your knees up.

Earlier, when I was struggling with the three mile runs, I'd notice I was looking down at my feet. That's going to slow you down. You are literally driving yourself into the ground when you run like that. So, I kept telling myself, "Head up, stride open." It helped me finish stronger.

Cheers!