I WEAR A FANNY PACK AND AM 79.4% HEALED

Today I ran another 10k after taking Sunday and Monday off. My calf was feeling pretty good and I decided I was going to push my pace a little. Get back to the "old" Thomas, pumping out a 10k under 8 minutes a mile.

Recently I was at Marshall's and happened to stumble across some running gear. I only bought one thing, a "running pack" to hold your cell phone, Gu, keys, and other small stuff. A lot of runners have them because where else are you going to put all that crap? I've been carrying it in my pockets but I would be lying if I didn't say it was annoying to have that banging around as I ran. When I would run races sans cell phone it felt like freedom.

So the last two runs I've ran with this pack (it is slightly less dorky than it seems) with my cell phone inside. I no longer can hear my mile times as I am running, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because I constantly feel like I'm going slow because I have no re-enforcement that yes, Thomas, you are running fast. However, if I am trying to shoot for a time goal (say under eight minutes a mile) I have no idea if I am hitting that pace. My times could be varying wildly and I wouldn't know.

Instead of listening to the music on my phone I've just been listening to the radio. It's a nice change up and I have presets on a little radio that straps onto my upper arm.Not a bad setup and a nice change from the phone.

Anyways, I felt great, like the old me, through five miles. Calf wasn't even an issue and I was hitting great times (as I would later find out). However, around mile five it started to act up and I had to adjust my stride up hills to avoid the "pull" feeling. So that was disappointing. It was better than last time I ran though. So as long as I keep not pushing it I should be good.

Today's time (last 10k time):
Mile 1: 7:42 (8:06)
Mile 2: 7:36 (8:05)
Mile 3: 7:31 (8:02)
Mile 4: 7:42 (8:21) Mostly uphill portion... crushed it!
Mile 5: 7:41 (8:04)
Mile 6: 8:09 (7:48) Calf limited me on this one
Homestretch: 2:09 (2:36)
Overall: 48:29 (51:02)

10k time today was 48 minutes flat... considering my Rum Run balls out 10k time was 47:31, not bad at all, especially being a gimp the last 20% of the run.