Running In Richardson (TX)

I am in Richardson, TX for a training course this week (Lean Six Sigma - DMADV and Lean Process training).

I flew into DFW last night and I didn't get to my hotel until 12 midnight. On the schedule was a breakfast meeting with our financial adviser at 7:30am (we still use him even though we moved from Dallas in 1999 - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right???) and class starts at 8:30am. Also on the schedule was a 5 mile run, so I set my alarm for 5:10 am - I could get sleep on Monday night, right????

After a not so good sleep, my alarm went off. I was considering going back to bed, but I figured if I didn't sleep well from midnight to 5am, was I really going to sleep any better from 5am to 6:30am??? So off I went.

Since I got into the hotel so late, I did not have time to plot out a running route. I lived in Richardson for 4 years and have run here on business trips before, but I did not have my routes saved on RunningAhead so I wasn't sure which route was a 5 miler. I took a stab and ran towards my old neighborhood, then north on Floyd past UTD (where I received my Masters Degree), into the Cottonwood Creek neighborhood and past Beth Torah, then back onto Campbell towards the hotel.

During my run I was not watching the time - just watching my heart rate. Again, my heart rate was a little higher than I wanted it. I am a "dissociative" runner and tend to get lost in my thoughts (or music) while running instead of being tuned in to what my body is telling me. I didn't run with music this morning and I still wasn't listening to my body - this is definitely something I'll have to practice a bit more before my first marathon on May 4.

At the end of the run, my watch was registering 1:05:25 / average HR 154. Based on how I felt my pace was, I knew that this was longer than a 5 miler. I finally had an opportunity to map the route during my lunch break - 6.1 miles. I guess since I knocked a mile off of a few of my runs last week that I'm compensating for it this week!