100 Miles

Today I ran my 100th mile. It really is not a lot when you look at the big picture, but I just started running this year, and have only been doing it seriously for about four and a half months now.

It is ironic, however, that such a milestone mile would turn out to be a bad run.

I was overdressed for the weather. I am still getting the feel for what to wear for each temperature and this morning I had too much on my upper body.

Also, I did not warm up or stretch properly. No wonder my legs were feeling tight during the run and my body was not relaxed.

Finally I started too hard. I have not run since Sunday's long run. My leg was hurting and I gave it a few days rest. It felt fine this morning and I started too fast for my own good. I knew it too, but continued with the pace because it felt good. Before long I was slowing and pushing myself through the run.

When I look back over my runs I can see what the good runs have in common with each other and what the bad runs have in common with each other. It is easy to see that a good run requires certain ingredients.

You need a good warm up, a good stretch, and you need to go at the proper pace. That with a few other elements can make or break a run.

Now as long as I remember that I should be fine.