On Tuesday night I had one of those dreams where you're running. Or you're supposed to be running. You're either being chased or you need to be somewhere and you're late or you're running a race (okay, maybe I'm the only one who dreams about running a race). But, no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to move. In my dream I literally felt as though running backwards was the only way to cover any distance. Running felt so awkward and cumbersome.
I fully admit that I probably had this dream due to some trepidation about Wednesday night's tempo run. I hadn't done a tempo run or, for that matter, any run where I was concerned about pacing since my half-marathon on April 11th. Wednesday's run called for a one-mile warm-up, 3 miles at 9:45 minutes per mile, and a one-mile cool-down. I think I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hit that time.
The sky was threatening rain and the radar was inconclusive about lightening in the area. However, the thought of doing a tempo run on the treadmill was less than thrilling. So, I decided to brave the rain and the wind. Thankfully, it barely rained and that was only at about the one mile mark. However, the threat of rain put a little spring in my step and I overshot my time goal.
When I looked down at my watch during my warm-up mile and saw that I was already running at a 9:45 pace, I told myself I needed to slow down. My brain told my legs something else entirely. They sped up. In fact, I went faster than 9:45 for all but my cool-down mile.
Nothing like drinking a lot of water throughout the day, a carb-full lunch, a tasty Muscle Milk Light pre-run protein bar, and the desire to get inside before a thunderstorm to turn you into a speed demon.
Although, to be honest, if you compare this 5 mile tempo run to my last 5 mile tempo run you'll see that they're essentially the same. Actually, this one WAS a little bit slower. Good to know.
Overall although I was pushing it, this run still felt good. That might be a sign that I could be pushing it a little harder. But I'll save that push for my upcoming short races. As evidenced by my first half-marathon, my short distance speed does not translate into long distance speed. However, this run did teach me that I have no idea what 9:45 minutes per mile feels like. Gotta work on that pacing!
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2 comments:
LOL at your first mile! I think this is good, you and I might have different strengths right now but we'll probably even out over the course of our training. When our tempo runs get longer, hopefully you'll be able to hit closer to the 9:45 mark, cuz we want to be able to practice not going out too fast! Although if we can both go out at a 9:40 pace, all the better to pad our time with. :)
It's just a good sign that you still felt strong at the end. I actually felt pretty decent when I was finished too, which is good. I need to learn how to run in between easy/medium and hard. I guess tempo running is "medium hard" which is what I hope to be able to hold for a half marathon distance. Which is a long way to hold that! But I'm confident we can do it!
P.S. Super cute picture today,and I love those Muscle Milk Light bars!
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