Hey; have I mentioned I'm running a Ragnar this weekend?

This morning I did some short speed work (5 x 400) in the nice cool morning we had here in northern Illinois.  I was a little worried about doing it because I had been having a small runner's knee issue lately, with my right knee giving me crap as I walked down any flight of stairs in the past few days.  However, I threw on my Brooks Glycerins and headed out the door, deciding to stop if my knee started to hurt at any point in the run.

It didn't.  I felt it, but it wasn't pain I felt.  So I didn't stop.  And I slammed out some nice speeds on those 400s, managing to stay in the 7:30s most of the time.  I had worked up quite the sweat despite the coolness of the morning, but I ran my mile cool down into the wind, and was literally cooled down by the time I got back to the house.

It was a perfect 4-mile run.  (And I managed not to see any burnt out garbage in the middle of the road, either.)  And the knee?

It hasn't hurt all day.  And I have been trucking up and down steps, forgetting things every 5 minutes in my upstairs classroom when I was in meetings downstairs today.  I have also been up and down the basement steps a few times, doing laundry for Ragnar Chicago so I can finish up my packing this evening.

The dog just won't fit in the damn suitcase.

I just don't know why it is that when I run faster my aches and pains get better.  The only answer I can come up with is that my form pretty much blows when I run slowly for long distances, but improves when I start running faster.  I wish I could run with a full-length mirror alongside me outside so I can see what the hell it is I'm doing wrong on the slower runs.

This weekend I'll be glad if I don't see a mirror, since showers are few and far between at a Ragnar.  I will be glad that my only major choices during these are 1) when to sleep and 2) what to wear on the run and 3) how badly I smell and do I need to swipe on more deodorant so as not to offend my seatmate in an olfactory manner.

God, I love a Ragnar.