I hate doing ‘laps’. Seriously, when it comes to running, this is the hardest running there is for me. I’d rather go climb a mountain than run laps. Last night, with the imminent threat of storms, a need to get some miles in, and a desire to stay closer to home, I ended up heading over to a great little facility not too far from the house. Sweet Apple Park in Roswell is a great little run. It is a 1.05 mile loop of crushed granite running loop. It has a little climb and descend, but it is a 1 mile box around a park and a school ( and passes close to some tasty restaurants, the smells make running even harder ). The goal for the day was 5-6 miles at an easy pace, keeping the heart rate down in zone 2-3. This is a bit of a challenge for me anyways, since I tend to run with a fairly high heart rate anyways. It is incredibly easy for me to push into zone 4 and even zone 5 with a moderate effort.

Putting it bluntly, I am not an ‘efficient’ runner yet. Almost 4 years in, and I am just beginning to figure out how to run efficiently. It will be a long time before I see fast miles at these heart rates, but that is part of the journey. It is part of why we do this. In order to get more efficient and to run better, sometimes we have to do things we do not want to do. Hills, Fartleks, Rest Days, and yes, Running in Circles.

So what about running in circles makes me a better runner? A lot of things, but last night it was working on two very distinct things. Efficiency and form at a lower effort level. The theory is that as efficiency and form become habit and muscle memory takes over, the same motions translate as the speeds and efforts ramp up. Combine that with a concerted effort to go with negative splits, I do feel that the work is valuable and shows an impact. Particularly in areas like how I feel afterwards.

It used to be that these 6+ mile weekday runs were a struggle the day after, but as I have worked on these types of runs, the hardest parts of the recovery have eased.

The observant reader may have noted that I had to go into Roswell to get the kind of facility I wanted to get this run in. The truth is, the City of Milton does not have this kinds of facility open yet, but they are working on one. I can not wait, since it will be about a mile from the house.