Fun Mile and Five-for-Friday

On Wednesday my sons needed to run a mile for soccer, so I decided to go run with them. Knowing how quick they are when they are conditioned, I thought it would be a good challenge for me to keep up with them. Jacob and Aaron have both run a mile in around 7:00, so I just told them I was going to go at my own pace and I'd try to keep up with them. As it is still early in the soccer season, the boys are not in as good of condition as they will be, and it wasn't too far into the run that I realized that I might be able to keep up with them. I really didn't want to burn it all out, just because I had run the previous 2 days consecutively, and I usually try not to run 2 days in a row - and this was day 3. About halfway through the run, however, I saw that we were running at a pace of a little over 8:00 per mile, and I knew that was well within reason for me. I began to pick up the pace a little bit, and next thing you know I was passing Jacob. I then picked up a little bit more, and though I never went all out, I beat them both at a time of 7:53 (they came in at 8:02 and 8:06, respectively). I realize that really isn't all that fast - especially considering I've run a mile about 3 minutes faster - but that was many years ago, and I'm pretty darn proud of myself. Oh, and they REALLY need to get faster and in better condition for soccer. Maybe them losing to old dad will make them push harder next time.

Today I was able to get a 5 mile run in between rain showers - and the sprinkles felt great. I wish everything felt great, but it didn't. Sometimes you just have those runs: cramp on the right side, foot hurting randomly and then stopping, cramp again on right side, lungs hurting, etc. Sometimes I love to run; sometimes I don't. I really was just trying to go at an easy pace, but eventually I just wanted to get done and get home. Here are my splits:
Mi 1 - 9:19.44
Mi 2 - 9:06.39
Mi 3 - 9:00.58
Mi 4 - 8:44.03
Mi 5 - 8:52.52
Total = 45:02.96
I'm disappointed that the last mile was a little slower than the 4th mile, but I truly was not trying to do negative splits for the run, so I guess I can't complain. Wouldn't it be nice if I got faster every mile . . .