In the Zone

Last night I attempted my longest tempo run so far in this training cycle.

What did the training plan say? 1.25 mile Warm-up, 5.5 miles at 9:11, 1.25 mile cool down. I set it up this way so that I could run 8 miles with the running group (on Monday nights you can either do 5.5 miles or 8 miles). However, I didn't really want to rely on the running group for the entire 8 miles. Some nights no one wants to run 8. Some nights only the super speedy people run 8. And I've never actually run 8 with the group so I don't know that part of the route. So, instead, I decided to run TO running group, run WITH the group for 5.5 miles, and then run home. Distance to and from running group? 1.5 miles. Total mileage? 8.5 miles. That's a lot for a Monday night (at least for me)!

The run to the meeting spot was good. I felt nice and warmed up by the time I made it to the store where we start. I was really bummed, though, when I realized my running buddy wasn't there! I worried a bit that I wouldn't be able to sustain my tempo pace all on my own. I also worried that I'd be all alone at the back. Well, it turned out I was all alone but in the end it was a good thing. While I kept the rest of the group in my sights, I was able to run at my own pace and not have to worry about talking to anyone. The first mile kind of sucked because I started out too fast and I felt like there was an elephant on my chest. After that, though, I found my groove. It was weird. For the first time in a very, very long time I knew I was pushing it but it didn't feel that hard. I'm not saying I could have gone faster, but I was definitely in a zone.

Dear Zone, I would like to find you on all my runs. Do you think you could make that happen? Thanks.

Once we reached our finish point, I stood around chatting for a bit with some of the group members before taking off for home. The run home also felt glorious and I actually surprised Jason with how early I came in the door. The Garmin was being a little flaky which is why the Bones in Motion splits show that mile 8 was done in 16:40. So, I've included my Garmin splits as well.

Garmin Splits:

Mile 1 - 9:33
Mile 2 - 9:21
Mile 3 - 8:59
Mile 4 - 8:56
Mile 5 - 9:03
Mile 6 - 8:41
Mile 7 - 9:00
Mile 8 - 9:26
Mile .56 - 9:32 pace

Look at how freaking consistent that is!!! Even my warm-up and cool-down were almost identical to each other. Oh my god, if I could make that happen on half-marathon day I would be THRILLED.

I wish I knew what I did to make the run so great. To be honest, during the last few miles I had to go to the bathroom and I was a little worried. I was sort of regretting the chili I'd had for lunch. But even with that it was still such a great run. Who knows why that happens?

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Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 626 ft Location: Forest Park, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/22/10 Up/Downhill: [+49/-49] Time: 06:02 PM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0   Weather: Partly Cloudy   44 F temp; 39% humidity   44 F heat index; winds N 20 G 24 Performance Distance: 8.56 miles Time: 1:18:22 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 09 /mi Calories: 1017 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 25 +0' 16 6.4 -0.2 +4 ft 2 10' 21 +1' 12 5.8 -0.8 +6 ft 3 9' 01 -0' 08 6.7 +0.1 0 ft 4 9' 02 -0' 07 6.6 +0.1 -9 ft 5 9' 04 -0' 05 6.6 +0.1 +13 ft 6 8' 49 -0' 20 6.8 +0.2 -3 ft 7 8' 51 -0' 18 6.8 +0.2 +3 ft 8 16' 40 +7' 31 3.6 -3.0 -9 ft end 9' 33 +0' 24 6.3 -0.3 0 ft Versus average of 9' 09 min/mile

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