Rest isn't just for Sundays

Like I said yesterday, I felt like I had to make up for Sunday, but today demonstrated why that might not have been the best idea.  Rest, it's not just for Sundays.  Our bodies, or at least mine, need a break in order to rebuild and recuperate.  I ran 2.3 miles for time (a lousy 20 minutes) last night, so for me, that was a fast and tough run. And I felt the effects tonight when I ran my 3.64-mile loop: mostly in my knees. 
Just so everyone knows, I'm not a slouch.  For my Physical Training (PT) test in Kuwait, I ran the 2-mile test in 13:23.  I think that's pretty awesome!   On top of that, I managed to do 77 pushups and 79 situps, each in only 2 minutes.  I actually earned the Army's Physical Fitness Badge for it:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armymedals/a/ptbadge.htm

But then that was in '03, and I weighed in at 173 lbs, 20 lbs less than I weigh today!  (Oh, yeah, I weighed myself today and I'm down to 192.8!  So in the past month, I've lost over 7 lbs.) So, here's what I'm thinking.  While I absolutely hated PT tests, they are a clean, subjective standard on which to compare my fitness.  I have years worth of PT tests, complete with reps, scores, times and weights.  So I'm going to use them as a guide to see where I am.  Over the next three months, I'll try to do one PT Test per month and post the results.  I'm going on vacation this week, starting Wednesday, so at some point, I'll try to set up my own PT test and we'll see what happens.  Stay tuned!  

Today's workout consisted of me running my 3.64 mile loop around Cumberland.  Thankfully, we're seeing some cooler temperatures at night, so it wasn't too bad.  It took me 40 minutes to run.  That's a dismal 11-minute mile.  At that rate, it will take me about 2 hours to complete the Tough Mudder course at Wintergreen.  So that's just not acceptable.  I just don't want to be running for 2 hours.  So, I've got to pick up the pace.  My PT tests will hopefully improve that.