A little bit of speed! And getting rained on AGAIN.

I haven't seen a 7 in a LONG time.

My back and legs have been feeling good enough that I practically skipped out of the office to do speed work last night. It's been at least two months since I've done anything more structured than a quick few miles, so I settled on half-mile repeats as a safe middle ground.

It was challenging to do them in about four minutes but I was holding my own and pretty much descending each one, so I was happy. I got through four and wondered if I could hold another. Of course, it was about then the clouds started coming in. Damn it, not again! I did one more, my fastest one yet, and finished just as it started sprinkling. I took it as a sign -- no sense in pushing too hard on my first speedy run back, not to mention risking slipping on wet leaves and breaking my neck in the process. I jogged it back in the rain, hiding out under a grove of trees for a few minutes when it got really bad, but making it back to my car safe although wet and muddy.

My hip feels a little tender today but I'm walking around fine. I had planned on taking the day off running anyway. (Plus, my shoes need to finish drying out... again.) So far I've had a lazy morning of sleeping in, going to the market, lingering over breakfast, cleaning out my email inbox, and walking the dogs. It feels darn good.

A long run is on the books for tomorrow. We'll see if I can handle 15-16. The forecast calls for 49 degrees in the early morning (!!!!!) but I'll probably wait til later in the day when it's a still-enjoyable 60-ish. After that, I'll have a better idea on whether or not this speed work is anything to get excited about.