RUN: 12.4 miles in 1:40. Yes you read that right! Total PR! The good and the bad below.
After a long Wednesday, you'd think I'd be looking for more sleep. But I didn't hit the pillow until 1030 and after that I slept poorly. Something about knowing I have to be up early keeps getting me up early. And if I think 4am is early and waking up on time for a run makes for poor sleep, wait til Sept 12th when every waking microsecond will remind me of an upcoming race.
Up at 4am, coffee banana raisins, grab gear and out the door to meet up in the park at 5am. All the while I waiting for me legs to wake up--they were dragging on the stairs and not all that peppy. Although two laps were planned, I knew I could always cut out at just one. But I also knew I wouldn't cut it short. I'd drag myself through the loop if I had to. I also wanted to compare this run to last weeks--12.25 miles in 1:50.
Off we went, zipping along and when we looked we were doing right around 8min/mile if not just under. Yikes, I'm good for one lap at that pace but not two. He did most of the talking (was a little hard for me to talk!) and the lap flew by much like last weeks--I was tired but survived: 6.12 miles in 49:53, ave HR 154. Much like last weeks (6.12m 51:33, 154). My repeat was off to a good start.
We had a brief rest, and when no other runner showed for the second loop we took off again. I told myself to tackle it as if it was the first loop of the day. Keep good form, light on the feet, head up, relaxed shoulders. All of those tend to go wrong when I'm stressed (ie racing or falling behind) and only serve to wear me out faster and raise the HR. Shortly into the 2nd loop, we meet tg, who promises to meet up with us on the other side of the park. Oh boy. Tg is one of the first guys I met in the club, we ran Weds nights together for about a mile--his WU pace was my race pace and after his WU he was gone. With my blessings, of course, I was happy just to have that one mile. It was not only inspiring to run with him and his friends, but it gave me a goal to be able to keep up. Knowing we were going to see him in a few miles only spurred me on more. I didn't want him to find only dc on the other side and learn that I was dropped. Motivation enough for me.
The sun was up by now. The air was cool in the high 70's. Again, dc did most of the talking. Actually he did most all of it, thankfully, there was no way I could get more than a few words and it was a wonderful mental distraction. In fact, I spent time later in the day thinking about what he was saying, while I won't go into it here I will say it was an interesting look into business, career, and how to take care of your own interests in that world so foreign to me. In fact, I found the courage to say something to my new boss about my job that I wouldn't have said otherwise! Ah! Off topic...
We met up with tg with about 2.5 miles to go. I warned him that any pace pushing was off limits, jokingly, and he took up position behind/along me and we held on with dc's pace. They started joking about trains that have engines ahead and behind. I was the little car in the middle, being pushed and pulled. I was fine being the little car, but I sure as hell wasn't going to be the girl who was dropped. Now I really dug in to hang on, and surprisingly, it wasn't all that hard to do!
Sure I was breathing hard, my HR monitor said 175bpm, and my legs burned. But I didn't feel any urge to slow down. I blessed each slight downhill, loved each inside corner, and enjoyed every second of it. Again, when we looked--sub 8m/m. That fact also boosted my run, just knowing I was setting up for a PR FP run kept me moving. The biggest surprise came in the last half mile where I found yet another gear and picked up the pace. Strong finish!! 6.29 miles in 50:34, 166bpm. This was 10 full minutes faster than last week, yet the same HR averages!
Fast crash!! Once I'd stopped running, I was done. Goose cooked, just like after a good race. This lasted for hours, well actually the rest of the day, a blissful runners high that left me with a dog-tired saggy look but a little smile on my face. I did it. I kept up. I wasn't dropped.
I would classify this as a Break Through session. To me, one of those sessions that I break through an old goal, learn something new, and set a new PR. Those don't happen every week! Heck they don't happen often at all. What a great way to start July off, turn the page on base training and kick it into IM gear. Start looking for those tough workouts that break me down and build me back up. And what a fast change from yesterday's let-down of a swim workout. Bah, turn the page on that too, fix the problem and move on!
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