Volleyball games followed by a five-mile track run!

After work today at the Homewood Center where I work, I got together with some of the staff and played some volleyball games with them. It was fun, I think I may be getting a little bit better, we'll see. I thought I made some good plays for myself, but at the cost of pulling a muscle in my left hand. Either way, we still had a good time. It's becoming common for the staff after work on Thursdays to play volleyball (and on Wednesday, to play basketball).

Originally I was just thinking of doing a two-mile track run, but since we finished volleyball before four in the afternoon, I thought that left plenty of time to go a little longer. So I decided to go for about five miles (twenty laps) on the track. Since it was close to the Homewood Center, I went to Centennial High School's track in Ellicott City (Howard County), Maryland. The neat thing about that school is that for the most part, it's interior design and hallways are structured very similar to those of Hammond High School, where I went to high school in Howard County.

My goal was to get the first couple of miles under a seven-per-minute-mile pace (which meant running two miles in under 14 minutes), and then sorta ease up after. I managed to do that, but by mile three, my right knee was feeling tense, so that slowed me up anyway. No negative splits here, really, although I was glad to have run three miles in just under twenty minutes. Below are some of my splits as I recall them.

1/4 mile - 1:40

1/2 mile - 3:20

3/4 mile - 5:00 - Very consistent pace these first three laps!

1 mile - 6:38

1.25 miles - 8:17ish

1.5 miles - 9:54

1.75 - 11:34

2 miles - 13:11 - Negative splits the first couple of miles, very nice!

2.25 miles - 14:57ish

2.5 miles - 16:39

2.75 miles - 18:18

3 miles - 19:55.55

3.5 miles - 23:28

3.75 miles - 26:21

4 miles - 27:06

4.5 miles - 30:45

4.75 miles - 32:31

5 miles - 34:08

Towards the end in the last mile, I realized if I just ran a little ways under a seven-minute-mile, I could actually break thirty four, but I guess with my knee crampin' up and a little wind resistance, that did not quite happen. It looks like I could use some work on my leg speed, but I was expecting that since I'm getting back into shape. I am pleased that I have run five miles in under a seven-minute-per-mile pace. In fact, if that's accurate, I'd say 34:08 for five miles is about a 6:49-per-mile-pace. Not bad!



All right, thank you all for reading. I hope you all stay warm and have a good night :)