After Wilson Creek, I took a couple weeks off from running, but my ribs are starting to feel better and I’m running a bit more now. This Tuesday was the first Tuesday in February which means it was time for the Monthly Mile. I missed the January Monthly Mile, so this was my first of the year. I wasn’t planning to push too hard on this run so I left the track spikes at home. I just wanted to get some speed work in to see how everything was feeling.

It had been raining off and on throughout the day so we had a small turn out. There were only four of us who showed up for the mile this month. After a warm up, we toed the line, ready for the mile. I felt pretty good and when we set off, started a bit faster than I probably should have. Oh well, it felt good to go fast again… or really run at all. I completed the first lap in 1:12 but was already realizing that speed was unsustainable for a mile. My ribs were feeling good enough, but it had been too long since I’d run fast. After lap 2, I was still holding on to a 5 minute pace, but by lap 3, that was slipping. I ended at 5:10. Not a bad time by any means, but still 15 seconds slower than my PR.

The next day, my calves were more sore than my ribs, so I took that as a good sign. Hopefully I’ll be able to focus some time on these track workouts again and maybe take another few seconds off my PR this summer. Either way, it’s a much better start to the year of running than my Wilson Creek results and better than I expected. I can’t wait for next month.

If you’d like to join us, we’ll be at the Boise High track at 6:00pm on March 3. I hope to see you then.