2.25 Miler or 3 Lapper

To start this post off, I need to explain some background. I am an entomologist. I work for the Army. "What?" you say! Yes, yes, I help to ensure the health of the soldiers and their families by researching and surveying medically significant insects. Also, I perform regulatory work to ensure the safe and minimal use of insecticides.

"So why are you telling us that?" you say. Because the Army has a vested interest in the health of its soldiers and civilian employees and has a policy for civilian physical training. I am allowed to spend time in conjunction with my lunch to work out. This roughly gives me an hour to run and eat lunch.

As I've stated before, there is a small "lake" (glorified pond) right outside my office. It has a great pathway that is a roughly 3/4 mile loop. Three laps equals about 2.25 miles. Ideally I'd like to have my normal runs be 3.1 miles (4 laps and a little extra), but at this point, I really do not run fast enough for a 3.1 miler and still have time to eat lunch.

Therefore, I've decided that for my lunchtime runs, I'm going to just keep it at three laps and not try to push further distances. I'm hoping this shift in planning will let me focus more on speed work so that I can bring my time down to something respectable. Then, I can start running my intended 3.1 milers.

I'll have to keep any distance runs to weekends or evening runs, but oh well, I still consider myself lucky to be able to get my exercise done at work anyhow!