Ahh! No iPod!

Went for a very rare iPod-less run today (it was acting up) and really enjoyed it! Was nice to go old school - the sound of my own breathing and footfalls among the breeze and birds. Ah yes...Thoreau is smiling in his grave (I won't mention the crappy traffic I had to dodge twice).
The run itself was 5.5 miles in a time of 44:05 (8:01 pace). Ran the first 3.5 at 8:00 pace, then ran 1 mile in 7:17, then an easy mile to finish. Not a great run, but not bad. Breathing was tough. May have been allergies. I really wanted to see what would happen when I ran a relatively hard mile after a few medium-paced miles, then how the fatigue would affect my last slow mile. I was pleased with how I was able to hold form and stride rate and relax my muscles and breathing that last mile (about 8:24).
We may be due for a bout of stomach flu to make its way through the family. My youngest had it two nights ago. If that happens, my training week may be cut shorter than it already is. But I'll cross that liquid-projectile bridge when I get to it. Sorry about the visual...