I’m sitting here today with warm, tired legs from this morning’s speed workout, and that awesome sense of accomplishment when you’ve given a workout your all. Heck, I was even a good runner and went to bed early last night. It’s been a little under a month since I jumped on board with a coach, and I am loving having someone help me kick things up a notch. I love checking my schedule at the beginning of the week and seeing my workouts, I love that I’m doing more than one variation of speedwork per week, and I love that (so far) I’m feeling great doing it.
Today I ran 12 timed repeats in the middle of my run – 2 minutes at a 6:56 pace with 1 minute recoveries in between. I tried to run them all evenly, which it to say that I tried not to go out too fast or hard to prevent struggling through the last half, and was pleasantly surprised that I felt like I settled into this pace (even came in a little under it) as I progressed through the repeats. I ran the 1:00 minute recoveries at whatever felt slow and easy. Have you noticed that your idea of “slow” is off during speedwork? Suddenly an 8:00 min/mile pace feels incredibly forgiving. (For the record, I run most of my easy runs anywhere between 8:40 on a perky day to 9:15 on a sluggish day.)
The hardest workout for me so far was last Sunday’s long run: 12 miles, the last 7 of which started with 1 minute bursts (half marathon race pace). It is impossible to avoid some serious hills around me, so the combination of pushing myself up hills and going longer turned out to be a much more difficult effort than I thought it would be. It’s been awhile since I’ve been sore, but I felt a few pangs here and there after this run. Am I the only one that likes getting a little sore every now and again? I feel like it’s a badge of honor, the hobbling around, I mean. I look forward to this part of racing, and crave that post-race tiredness. It’s like a giant release from all the training I’ve done to get myself to the finish line.
I’ve spent most of today gazing out my window at a perfectly blue sky or sneaking in walks around office building in the very mild temps. We’re about to be blasted with our first real summer heat this weekend, so I’m trying to soak up the perfect, mild weather while it lasts. Also, tonight’s dinner plan involves bacon. I mean, really, could I ask for anything else to make today better? (Trick question, no.)
Thanks for indulging me in a quick update on this week’s training. Happy running!
