Five miles in 1 hour

The five-mile run.

Today, I finally hit my goal of running five miles in an hour.

But to back up, just a bit, I do want to report that despite a canceled run on Friday morning because of thunderstorms, I did run four miles in 49:11 by myself on Saturday, followed by a mile walk/jog with Liam. Jack ran a mile, mostly on his own. At one point early on, Liam actually caught up and passed him. But then he was exhausted and had to rest. So, I spent some time working on pacing with him. Jack's time for the mile was 13:07, about a half a minute faster than before.

I also rode my bike for about an hour on Sunday. It really helps the knees.

So, anyway, back to this morning's run.

I woke up at 6 a.m. and as usual dozed for about five minutes before actually getting up. What usually motivates me is thinking about all the reasons why I hate being obese.

Such as:

• It's hard to bend over and pick something off the floor. 
• I inadvertently honk the horn on my car as I get out because my cell phone hits the steering wheel. 
• I don't like exceeding the weight limits on some kinds of ladders. 
• I get the sensation that the diving board is only inches from breaking.  
• I have trouble fitting into the Go-Karts at Harris Hill, etc. 

So, anyway, I get up and go for a run.

As I went through the kitchen, I saw that the screen door was slightly open. Somehow, our little black cat, Ninja, had opened it. I closed it and went to get a cup of water. Almost immediately, Ninja was at the door, meowing to be let in. So, I did, and went out my front door to the step.

That's when I saw another black cat sitting in our front yard, by our lilac bush, staring at me. At first, I thought it was Ninja, but then thought, "No, I definitely just brought him inside." Apparently, there is another black cat in the neighborhood and he spent several minutes staring at me as I drank my cup of water and stretched. It ran off when a car spooked it.

When I started the run, I just felt really good. Perhaps the weather had something to do with it. It was cool, and I didn't sense any oppressive humidity. I also hit the checkpoints right on time, some a little earlier than usual. Some just a little slower.

I made it to the turnaround point on Valley Lane off Old Ithaca Road at the 30 minute mark. It was just about at the 2.5 mile mark, as I measured it from Google maps. Hitting that goal gave me a boost of adrenalin and I was able to run a little faster on the way back. I reached all of my checkpoints ahead of time, and when I got home it was still only 59:14. So, I kept running and stopped at the corner of Stuart and Middle Roads when the clock hit 1 hour.

There is a discrepancy here. Google maps says my turnaround was at 2.5 miles. But I later checked it with the odometer on my car, which put the turnaround a bit farther down the road on Valley Lane. But even so, I ran half a block past the finish line, which I think makes up for the shortage on the other end. So, I'm calling this my first five mile run in at least eight years.

Tomorrow, I will be running four miles by myself and another mile with the boys. I think the varying intensities of these runs help boost my speed and endurance.

BMI is 34.6