Week #4 - Day 1

I got out of work early today and made it down to the park which was nearly deserted. It was overcast and only about 75 degrees, but it was rather humid. Today was just a simple 3 mile run (funny how I now consider 3 miles "simple"), and I finished in my best time yet, 24:01 (8:00 mi pace). That is 1:40 off my last 3 mile run on Saturday, and nearly 3 minutes better than last week's Day 1 run! I know it's bad to focus on time, but it's nice to see improvements and it gives me a good way to challenge myself on these shorter runs. Surprisingly I was not very sore today after yesterday's 15-mile bike ride from Brecksville down to Pennisula and back. I know I should ease myself into riding, but it's hard to restrain myself because it's fun to be riding again.

While my time was good, the run itself was not that great. Just after finishing my first mile, I had some very sharp pains in the left side of my lower back which almost stopped me. They did improve over the course of the mile, only to come back almost as strong near the end of the mile. Eventually they faded, but they had me very concerned at times. I need to read up more on some exercises I can do, along with some extra stretching to hopefully prevent this from becoming a recurring problem.