I Must Be Getting Old
I met Steve today for our weekly tempo run that we normally do on Mondays. We moved it due to the race this past Monday. I must be getting old because I don't think I have fully recovered from that long hard run I did Monday night. I asked Steve before our run how he felt, thinking that after my puny 3.6 miles last night I'd be ready to really get after it and he indicated that he was stiff and would just try to hang. I suggested we extend the distance a little since we might end being on the light side in terms of milage this week with a race Saturday. We settled on two loops (7.1 miles) plus the mile out and back for 9.1 total. I was already envisioning a 25 something minute first loop, maybe a 25 flat second loop, and a strong 2 miles at the end. That turned out to be optimistic.
We started off at a pace that was a little faster than easy conversational, but we were still slower than my 1st loop Monday night at one of the marks. We finished the 1st loop in 25:37 (7:13 pace), which wasn't bad, but we were working pretty hard for that number. I figured we'd turn a faster 2nd loop (we almost always do), and be right about where we wanted to be going into the final two mile tack-on. But the 2nd loop just felt really tough - no fun at all. I told Steve that the way I was feeling it was probably going to be the .5 mile mark of the last mile before I'd be able to pick up the pace. He said he didn't think he'd be picking up the pace at all. I posted a 25:40 (7:14 pace) for loop 2, an extremely rare positive split. Steve had dropped back just a bit but I knew he wasn't going to quit until he finished the 9.1.
Now I had to somehow dig down and try to go faster for the last two. Why? Because it's the way we always do this 9.1 mile course. I got out to the mile turnaround in a respectable 6:49 and really wanted to go just a little faster back in. But it was going to be gut-check time. Nothing was in sync and I was just having to battle for every step. I was a bit ahead of schedule at the 1/4 mile mark but about even at the 1/2 mile mark. I had to somehow pick it up. So I did what I could and came in with a 6:34 final mile. Steve came in a bit later and we both agreed that it was a tough day out there. But we were glad we did it.
Total distance Wednesday (9/5) - 9.1 miles, 1 hour 4 minutes, 39 seconds (7:06 pace).
We started off at a pace that was a little faster than easy conversational, but we were still slower than my 1st loop Monday night at one of the marks. We finished the 1st loop in 25:37 (7:13 pace), which wasn't bad, but we were working pretty hard for that number. I figured we'd turn a faster 2nd loop (we almost always do), and be right about where we wanted to be going into the final two mile tack-on. But the 2nd loop just felt really tough - no fun at all. I told Steve that the way I was feeling it was probably going to be the .5 mile mark of the last mile before I'd be able to pick up the pace. He said he didn't think he'd be picking up the pace at all. I posted a 25:40 (7:14 pace) for loop 2, an extremely rare positive split. Steve had dropped back just a bit but I knew he wasn't going to quit until he finished the 9.1.
Now I had to somehow dig down and try to go faster for the last two. Why? Because it's the way we always do this 9.1 mile course. I got out to the mile turnaround in a respectable 6:49 and really wanted to go just a little faster back in. But it was going to be gut-check time. Nothing was in sync and I was just having to battle for every step. I was a bit ahead of schedule at the 1/4 mile mark but about even at the 1/2 mile mark. I had to somehow pick it up. So I did what I could and came in with a 6:34 final mile. Steve came in a bit later and we both agreed that it was a tough day out there. But we were glad we did it.
Total distance Wednesday (9/5) - 9.1 miles, 1 hour 4 minutes, 39 seconds (7:06 pace).
posted by Lance Collins at 7:06 PM
1 Comments:
you must be getting old or senile since i guess you've forgotten how to blog. ;o)
come on dude!
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