Training Mission #2

43:24 minutes - 2.55 miles - 17:03 min/mile

All right, I actually ran twice in a row! Maybe this time I'll actually start running regularly again. I decided to do the second training mission for the Virtual Race, just for completeness' sake. I was still a bit sore from doing a hard run Saturday with no training, so I wanted to take it easy today. I did turn zombie chases back on, although I reduced them to 1.5 per hour. I didn't time my intervals, but ran two or three laps and then walked one. I kept my pace easy in case I had a chase, but didn't get any today.

I think I will concentrate on 5K distances for now, and see if I can't get my speed up a bit. It occurred to me, as I was thinking about that before the race, that I kind of went about my running career backwards—I expect most people would start out with short races, and gradually build up their distance. But I started out running marathons, then half marathons, a few 10Ks, and now I'm planning on 5Ks! Well, I might do another half marathon sometime, or even a full, but for now, and through the summer, I will keep the distances short so I can run early when the weather heats up and avoid running in the heat of the day. Today, though, it's cloudy and around 60F, so I ran at 11:30 AM with no problem.

Today's mission was fun, rescuing someone trapped in a burning amusement park. But now I have Small World stuck in my head, argh!

Zombies, Run! Virtual Race 5K

54:39 minutes - 3.40 miles - 16:05 min/mile

Obviously, I didn't get any more training in before the Virtual Race, so I decided to just do the 5K and do my best. I went to the park to do my run, wore my European Rescue Force tee-shirt, and ran the loop. It was 11 AM by the time I got ready to hit the road, but fortunately the weather is still fairly cool this time of year, so it wasn't too bad running in the middle of the day. Temperature was low 60s and there were sparse clouds and a light breeze.

I'm actually pretty pleased with my time, considering I've only run once since mid-January. I figured it was only going to be 3 miles, so I might as well push it and not worry about saving any energy for later. I used a 1:1 minute run/walk ratio, and tried to keep my walking pace up.  My splits were 15:06, 16:39, and 15:40. I felt pretty good the whole way and didn't even get de-energized by the sun. It was good to finally get out there and do a run again. I hope I can keep it up this time, although soon it will be warming up enough that I'll have to get up early and run before the sun gets too hot.

The mission was different—I was not my usual Runner 5, but a runner with the European Rescue Force, and this was apparently set before the start of the Zombies, Run! main story, as the runners were aware of an infection but weren't expecting zombies, just trying to rescue a train that had gotten stuck in a tunnel. But zombies there were!

I still have the second training mission to run, which might help fill in a few things about this mission. I will run that next, and then I can get back to Season 2.