Training Run on May Day!

Swing your partner round and round, do-ce-do, oops wrong occasion!

Yes, it is May Day, a holiday I know zero about, apparently something like Labor Day. It has nothing to do with square dancing but the picture reminded me of whooping it up in 4th grade in Tennessee...ahhh, memories!

Today is my first run in May and as I wrote in the last 'Long Run' post, my asthma was directed to disappear into a cave or bother someone else. It is also pretty hot in AZ and it feels like the kickoff to summer running season so I was excited. Plus I had a doctor visit scheduled for Monday and I was hoping for either a massive 'roid injection or a "You're fine. Marathon next weekend? Go for it!" from the doc. ;)

Usually the long runs are on Saturday, but I had a rough Thursday and Friday so I could not muster the mental strength to run on Saturday. I needed to be ready for work by 7:30 A.M., so Jeff agreed to a 5:30 run on Sunday. I looked forward to a quieter field along the canal. Jeff wanted to run 8 miles and I negotiated to 6. As much as I liked flirting with my cute podiatrist, I really wanted to run, skip and walk without plantar fasciitis greeting my a$$ every morning! Sorry Dr. H., I am going for 0 more visits!!

We took off, following the usual route, heading north to the canal. Again the pace for these long runs is supposed to be 10:30-11:00 and once again we ran too fast. Thanks a lot, Mr. Ego McGeyer!

We ran west on the canal and slowly increased the pace. :( When we reached the 3-mile mark just north of 24th Street, I expected us to briefly walk for a GU gel and water. That did not happen, but I slowed down to sip a little water and Jeff kept going. I slowed down a bit more to eat the GU but I struggled so I walked at mile 3.75. I started running again at mile 4. The walk did me good and my pace got close to 10:00 for the last 2 miles. I stayed steady and finished 6 miles in 1:02:15, average 10:21 pace, 3 minutes after Jeff.

The Arizona Road Racers Summer Series starts in 4 weeks. I signed up for the entire series, 5 races between 5/28-8/14. Last year I only ran the last one. I will miss the ARR race on 7/16 to run the 2nd Annual Brown Center for Autism 5K with my brother and sister in TN. My goal is to beat 29:30, PR set last year. Hopefully running the first 3 races in AZ heat will prepare me for TN humidity! ;)
Happy May Day and happy summer running! :D