Fast 4 Miler With Husband and Easy 1 with Daughter

It was raining this morning so I couldn't get out for my normal run - so I took my gear with me to work, intending to hit the treadmill.

When the time came for the treadmill, I decided to just go home and run outside - there was a break in the rain and I needed to be home in time to take my youngest to soccer practice. My husband was just getting ready for his run, so we decided to run together.

With only 45 min available, it was going to be a 4 miler. I fired up a 176 bpm podrunner mix - this was going to be a fast tempo run. My husband was stepping up his training - running 4 min and walking 1. So off we went! The first mile was less than 10 min, the second mile was before we hit the 20 min mark. I was starting to tire for the pace and bpm but this was to be a speed work out so I pressed. Mile 3 came at around 30:25 - lost a bit of ground there. Heart rate was right up there around 173 bpm. It was a bit warm and humid - so the heart did have to work harder.

We ran the last mile, and after the first walking break decided to skip the second - leading to about 6 min of non-stop running (still going 176 bpm). The last mile was in 9:43.

Adding on the last 40 ft to the house we ran 4.01 miles in 40:20 min - a new "record" for 4 miles for me. I beat a time I set on a treadmill in June by 7 sec! None of the other 4 mile runs came close. Pace was 10:04 min/mile - heart rate average was 163 bpm (anaerobic of course) and max heart rate 182 bpm (equals the highest max HR I have hit this year). It was a hard run, but a good one.

After hopping into the car and driving over to soccer practice, my older daughter and I ran once around the park for one more mile. She has been out of running for the summer so we did a 1 min run 1 min walk pace for 1 mile - in 14:06 min. We also recorded 3 facts for the podcast....hopefully we will have a Running Adventure episode out before the end of the weekend.

Running with my family is great. It is truly a gift to be able to share something I enjoy like running with family and friends!

Run on!