It’s National Running Day today! Although I kind of feel about NRD the way normal people feel about Mother’s Day/Father’s Day/Valentine’s day… I don’t necessarily need a specific day all about running because really, all my days are all about running and I love it every single day of the year 
I also knew this day was coming for months and months and yet still didn’t plan my week to actually be able to run ON NRD… epic fail! (For some reason, I was convinced it was Thursday but moving on). But I did celebrate National Running Day EVE! That works right?! And I celebrated in a big way! With the return of Speedwork 
Since being in perpetual taper mode, I’ve gotten REALLY lazy with my running and can tell it’s starting to get really hard to keep decent paces on my runs lately so I knew it was time to suck it up and do a little speedwork yesterday. I set out with the plan of doing a warm up, 800meters at a faster speed x 6 repeats with 400m recovery jogs, cool down.
Here’s how that turned out:
I realized my normal route is a little more congested after work versus early in the morning when I used to run so that added a little extra challenge to the run with waiting for cars, lights, etc. I don’t think it messed with anything too much luckily. A little time here and there… always at the speed portions, of course.
I also was reminded how FUN speedwork is! And how much easier it gets as you go along and reset your comfort level. It’s way too easy as a runner to slip into never wanting to push things and feel uncomfortable while running but it really pays off when you do. Multiple times during this run, I wanted to slow down/stop and walk but that was NOT allowed during the faster 800m and you know what? I made it every single time! Clearly I am capable of running faster than I do, I just need to push it a little harder to see some improvements. Speedwork will be something I keep up at least once a week I think. It really makes the distance go faster surprisingly. In total, I covered three miles at a rather fast pace for me but it didn’t seem that bad at all!
So, go out and run today, or some day this week! All days are good days for running, not just national holidays
I run because… it’s FUN! Challenging, but fun
Happy National Running Day!
