Week #1 - Day 4

Well, today was it. The first "Day 4 - long race". I'm happy to report that I passed this test, with flying colors. I returned to the outdoors for this run, and it was my first real successful outdoor run. I think the time spend on the treadmill has given me a better idea of my pace. Running outside before, I think I was going too fast because I had no idea of my pace and therefore was wearing out too quickly.
The conditions were absolutely perfect today. It was totally overcast, 63 degrees, not too cool and not too warm. I started off at the 82 bridge and went to the Red Lock, 2.5 miles in a time of 23:22. I then turned around and headed back, and finished my 5 mile run in 45:53. So the return 2.5 miles I finished in almost a minute less, but this was mostly due to the fact that I basically sprinted the last .25 mile. So my overall pace was about a 9:11 mile. An improvement that I'm very satisfied with, considering I started the week around a 10:00 mile.
The run itself was much easier than I expected. I think I can safely say it was actually better than the treadmill runs. A lot of it had to do with the weather, but I was so worried that heading back outdoors was going to be my ruin. So now I can safely go back to the treadmill for the shorter runs and know that I'm not kidding myself into thinking they're helpful. I felt a little lower back pain in the 3rd mile, but it did not last that long. I'm looking forward to my Sunday off, and then back to another 3-4-3 week, followed by the 10k (6.2 mi) I'm doing next Sunday morning.