After finishing 3.01 miles, on my way to the spot where I do my end of run sprint (slightly uphill), the back of my right knee was hurting, stiff, not wanting to move. Like I’d been going uphill a lot, and it was never getting the full range of motion. Because it wasn’t. This is a large part of why I missed my goal of getting faster than a 35 minute 5K: my feet were dragging because I wasn’t using my hamstrings like I needed to. So, I did a little bit of a high knee drill as I walked to my sprint spot. That helped a lot.

And even though I didn’t get my 5K time faster (oh, also there were very few sprinklers to cool me down today, as I ran an hour earlier), I did improve my sprint time:

• 3.11 miles
• 38:17
  • my 5K time after accounting for screen unlock time was probably 38:07
• Best pace 5’32” during the last 0.1 mile
  • A better improvement than the Monday to Wednesday improvement

I might have one more single run dramatic improvement left in me, but I think I’m going to have to start actually training— fartlek, hill workouts, longer distances, sprint drills, etc.—to get better improvements. Losing weight will also help. For some reason a 17 minute 5K wasn’t too hard when I was skin and bone and quadriceps. Well, age may also play a role. Perhaps. Just maybe.

I did an upper body workout yesterday, so after my run I just went to the sauna for a half hour or so.

Oh, and I think I need new shoes. I’ve had these for a while, 4 years or so. They would be fine if I were my ideal weight, but….