It's not rocket science

Day off or not, with so few days left before the race, I knew I had to drag myself out of bed this morning and get some mileage in.

I headed out around the neighborhood for a 4-mile run that incorporated part of the University of Maryland campus.

The weather was cool and overcast. I thought at any moment the skies were going to open up and dump a soaking rain. Luckily that never happened.

So...I'm getting the mileage in, but I really also need to start focusing on my speed/ pace. The weekly track workouts are definitely a key to increasing my speed, but I feel like I need to do more than just work on this once a week.

I have consistently been one who seems to hold back a bit during my runs. I believe that it all has to do with being nervous that I won't have enough steam to finish the distance without holding a little back. Sometimes I don't even realize that I am doing it, but once I am a mile or two from the finish I seem to have a kick of energy that motors me home. Somehow I need to tap into that earlier to see how much kick I really have.

It's not rocket science...you have to practice running faster...in order to actually run faster!

Today I tried to push myself faster throughout the run. I did have some IT band soreness --- same nagging left leg --- that appeared around the halfway point, which sucked. Even with some soreness, my time was pretty good --- I kept it in the 9-minute mile zone. That's really good for me! I need to find a way to stay closer to 9 more consistently. Practice makes perfect, I guess.