~5 miles @ ~9 min/mi

Cara Marie Manlandro is stuck in the lab with a balky experiment and can't run this afternoon, so since the rain has stopped I go to the local (Silver Spring International Middle School) asphalt track and run a ladder of laps, 1+2+3+4+3+2+1, with half a lap (~2.5 min) of walking and panting between each, trying to get my heart rate down from the ~180 beats/min redline. My attempt to maintain sub-7 min/mi pace fails: no pretty girls are on the track to incentivize me. Splits: 1:41 ⇒ 3:27 ⇒ 5:15 ⇒ 7:04 ⇒ 5:18 ⇒ 3:30 ⇒ 1:40. I try to relax into the running, hold hands loose, and avoid puddles.

^z - 2011-01-14