Breakthrough?

I am not quite sure one could call it a "breakthrough", but my last two runs have been my fastest...ever.

Last night, I ran 4.56 miles around the neighborhood in 42:09 (9:14 pace). My previous best on the same course was 45:27 (9:52 pace). Maybe it was the strange summer-like weather, but the run almost seemed effortless!



Splits:
1 mile: 10:34
2 mile: 9:06
3 mile: 8:23
4 mile: 9:28
0.56 mile: 4:37

Today on the wonderful treadmill, I had planned on an easy slow pace run. After the first mile (12:00 pace), I decided to kick on the jets. I ran a total of 6.65 miles, broken up into two sections (treadmill only allows 35 minutes at a time...so I had to quickly restart it). The first "5k" (incl. the 12 min mile) was an even 30 minutes (10:00 pace). I kept running for another 5 minutes to end up with 3.55 miles (9:52 pace) when the treadmill went to cool-down mode. After a quick restart, the second "5k" was done in 26:42 (8:37 pace). The total 6.55 miles was completed in 1:01:42 (9:17 pace). Once again, the run seemed almost effortless! Once I got cranked up, my respiration and heart rate slowed to the same levels as if I were running an easy 12 minute mile. Even more strange, my legs feel fine! No stiffness or pain!

I know for some of you out there all this seems very slow, but for my big ass it feels great! Maybe the last 4 months of running long and slow have paid off. Maybe my "base" is now set and I can start working on adding more speed. Maybe I will keel over with chest pain the next time I try to push the pace!