A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Friday, March 4, 2011

Start Being Awesome



Last night's speedwork was, in a word, AWESOME.

I think for the first time in my life I ran negative splits during mile repeats. And that's WITHOUT being able to see my Garmin.

I had no idea how fast I was going. All I know is that I was supposed to be hitting my goal 5K pace or thereabouts. Hmm, okay. I'll do my best.

Although I did whine that I'd just done that on Sunday at the 5K race.

But, I have to say, I did even better last night.

The workout consisted of our usual drills and a 2 mile warm-up. Then it was on to 3x1 mile w/5 minute recoveries.

Remember, I can't see my Garmin so I have no idea how fast I was going. Also, when I have it in interval mode it doesn't show me my split times so I had no idea how fast each mile was until I got home and uploaded (downloaded?) the data.

The first mile I took it a little easy. I did manage a sneak peak at the Garmin and it said I was doing an 8:40 pace. Okay, that's a little TOO easy. I picked it up a bit but made sure not to run too hard.

The second mile was a little rougher but at least that one was slightly downhill. Still, I wasn't totally wiped at the end even though I pushed it.

The third mile felt tougher but about a quarter from the end our fastest guy peeled off from his last recovery jog and started running next to me. I was breathing hard and my legs hurt but he pushed me through to the end.

Then it was off for our 1.5 mile cool down and some stretching. When I got in the car I checked my Garmin activity history.

Mile 1 - 8:03
5 minute recovery
Mile 2 - 7:52
5 minute recovery
Mile 3 - 7:49

OPRC Riverside Speedwork - Mile Repeats by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Holy crap! Even during my cool down I felt like I was flying. And the best part? No leg pain! I think I was on an adrenaline high for the rest of the night.

Actually, I might still be riding that high. Now that's what I call a good run!