So.....After my last few days of screweduppedness....yes....that's a word dammit....I finally conquered the wake up daemons that have been plaguing me this first week and a half of training. today, I woke up an rolled out of bed at roughly 4:30 am.....The dog was ready for his morning treat and trip outside.....and I was just happy that I wasn't going to be late. Last night I took some time to get my watch setup for the 60 minute tempo workout. We had a nice group of people show up this AM, and both marathoners and non marathoners took off at the same time. The non marathoners were doing a 40 minute version of our workout, but at a faster pace. We were supposed to run at 90% of our marathon pace, but that's where I made mistako numero uno!
My goal pace was supposed to be an 8:55/mile for this workout.....But as we took off with the group, I went out on what felt comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean conversational pace. There was a pack of 4 of us that pretty much ran the whole workout together, the only problem was that the pace was just a wee bit faster then I should have been running......In fact.....we pretty much ran an 8 min/mile pace for the entire workout. At the 5 mile point the 40 minute tempo twosome bailed off to the side.....and I continued on....my eyes squarely focused on the runner in front of me. Now...She had a good 25 seconds on me, but I didn't want to let her increase that I just wanted to stay nice and even.....and as I clicked off the miles, I kept hitting right at an 8min/mile pace.
In all.....I covered 7.6 miles in that 60 mins. And things were going well, until Mamma Michele asked me what my pace was..... ;) Well....I've never been one to lie, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, and she lived up to the hype....She let me have it. I know she's right, but I also know that what she predicts my goal time to be, is based off of times that are a totally different me. That's the me that ran at close to 200 pounds.....That's not the me that is currently running at 183, and just came off a 3 pound weight loss week. So, I should be faster for crying out loud. We both made concessions and I'm going to dial it back a bit for the rest of the month.....and at the end of the month she can go through all my splits and times from the June workouts and we'll make the adjustments for July. So I'll run my thang, and just keep loggin' the miles.
Up for Thursday is 12 miles with 5x800m stuck in the middle. Until then, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
The long weekend.....
And I don't mean rest......well, except for Friday...... Saturday started out on the wrong foot. For whatever reason on Friday night, I somehow forgot to plug in my phone when I went to bed, and that started the subsequent cascade of dominoes, that I have yet to fully recover from. LOL.... Anyways, since my phone is my alarm clock, and it wasn't plugged in, the battery died sometime in the night. You know that feeling when you wake up that something isn't quite right.....and then as you come to it kicks in, and you jump into OMG FREAKOUT mode....well, that was me Saturday morning. The session started at 5:30, and I literally woke up at 5:20.....to the sound of chirping birds and fresh off some weird dream that involved pole dancing.....and I was the one doing the dancing.....HA....you can deal with that mental image.....LOL
Anyways, in my rush to get out, I got changed, threw on my shoes, grabbed my Garmin....and headed out the door....From that point on, the dog got t'd off at me, and ended up keeping my wife up....so, straight to the dog house for that one...It's okay....it's comfy out there, and comes fully furnished with a pool and gazebo.
I managed to get to the start line on time, but still half asleep. I told myself, that this 5 mile time trial was important, but since i didn't warm up properly, that I would hold back for the first couple of miles. So, I know I wouldn't be breaking any land speed records, or personal bests. Just get in under 40, and enjoy that it was over. When I crossed the finish line in 37:24, I was VERY pleased with my time. That was by far the most consistent take at the course in a very long time. Didn't bonk, and felt great afterwords. Afterwords, the group went off and did the 2 mile cool down....this is where it gets a little sketchy. Since my morning routine was totally screwed up....so was my mornign movement....you runners know what I'm talking about, and about a half mile from the end of the cool down I started getting that clenching feeling.... ;) I was able to hold it back without having to divert into the desert...NOTE TO SELF.....PLUG IN YOUR PHONE THE NIGHT BEFORE.
Which I successfully did Saturday night. Sundays run was 15 miles, with the last 5 miles at marathon pace. Unfortunately for me, I made the "assumption" that the workout started at 5:30.....Well.....You know what happens when you assume.....it means I showed up 30 mins late....Which sucked, because I was really hoping to run with the group. Anyways, I started out, (at this point I didn't realize they had started at 5:30) so instead of taking it easy, I took off at an 8:30 pace to hopefully do a little catch up. but, since they had a 30 min head start, all I was doing was pulling further away....No biggee though....I made it through the first loop, and decided that I should tone it closer to my target splits for lap number 2. On lap number two, I got passed by Todd and Dave while they were busy hammering their 3rd lap at marathon pace. When I finished lap #2, I stopped at my truck for a quick Power Aide break, and then started the last 5 miles. I started off at an aggressive 8 min/mile pace. That actually quickened on the second mile to 7:55. Mile three was still at 8min/mile, and I made the decision to get some water, so I pulled back the throttle a bit and drank from my fuel belt. At the end of that mile, I had increased my speed back to an 8:40 pace, and with 1 to go, I stepped on the throttle a bit. My legs were screaming not to, but that's about the point where the Rocky songs kicked in on the iPod. Burning Heart, Hearts on Fire, and Eye of the tiger got me to the finish in 8:26 for the 15th mile. In all, my run was MUCH faster pace wise then last weeks 14 miler. That one worked out to be about 8:55/mile in the end, this one was a) only 4 minutes slower then last weeks, but one extra mile, and b) an overall 8:25 pace! talk about GIT ER DONE! I took that one home, and shoved that baby in the BANK!
In all, it was a great ending to what looked like a daunting week. In total, I got 52 miles, and I was still able to get out for my 3.5 miler this AM. I'll definitely take that, and LOOK forwards to this weeks challenges. First goal of the week.....Proper alarm clock setting......Second Goal.....Proper Start Time.......Third Goal.......Proper start location....All the rest is cream cheese!
Until tomorrow, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!
Anyways, in my rush to get out, I got changed, threw on my shoes, grabbed my Garmin....and headed out the door....From that point on, the dog got t'd off at me, and ended up keeping my wife up....so, straight to the dog house for that one...It's okay....it's comfy out there, and comes fully furnished with a pool and gazebo.
I managed to get to the start line on time, but still half asleep. I told myself, that this 5 mile time trial was important, but since i didn't warm up properly, that I would hold back for the first couple of miles. So, I know I wouldn't be breaking any land speed records, or personal bests. Just get in under 40, and enjoy that it was over. When I crossed the finish line in 37:24, I was VERY pleased with my time. That was by far the most consistent take at the course in a very long time. Didn't bonk, and felt great afterwords. Afterwords, the group went off and did the 2 mile cool down....this is where it gets a little sketchy. Since my morning routine was totally screwed up....so was my mornign movement....you runners know what I'm talking about, and about a half mile from the end of the cool down I started getting that clenching feeling.... ;) I was able to hold it back without having to divert into the desert...NOTE TO SELF.....PLUG IN YOUR PHONE THE NIGHT BEFORE.
Which I successfully did Saturday night. Sundays run was 15 miles, with the last 5 miles at marathon pace. Unfortunately for me, I made the "assumption" that the workout started at 5:30.....Well.....You know what happens when you assume.....it means I showed up 30 mins late....Which sucked, because I was really hoping to run with the group. Anyways, I started out, (at this point I didn't realize they had started at 5:30) so instead of taking it easy, I took off at an 8:30 pace to hopefully do a little catch up. but, since they had a 30 min head start, all I was doing was pulling further away....No biggee though....I made it through the first loop, and decided that I should tone it closer to my target splits for lap number 2. On lap number two, I got passed by Todd and Dave while they were busy hammering their 3rd lap at marathon pace. When I finished lap #2, I stopped at my truck for a quick Power Aide break, and then started the last 5 miles. I started off at an aggressive 8 min/mile pace. That actually quickened on the second mile to 7:55. Mile three was still at 8min/mile, and I made the decision to get some water, so I pulled back the throttle a bit and drank from my fuel belt. At the end of that mile, I had increased my speed back to an 8:40 pace, and with 1 to go, I stepped on the throttle a bit. My legs were screaming not to, but that's about the point where the Rocky songs kicked in on the iPod. Burning Heart, Hearts on Fire, and Eye of the tiger got me to the finish in 8:26 for the 15th mile. In all, my run was MUCH faster pace wise then last weeks 14 miler. That one worked out to be about 8:55/mile in the end, this one was a) only 4 minutes slower then last weeks, but one extra mile, and b) an overall 8:25 pace! talk about GIT ER DONE! I took that one home, and shoved that baby in the BANK!
In all, it was a great ending to what looked like a daunting week. In total, I got 52 miles, and I was still able to get out for my 3.5 miler this AM. I'll definitely take that, and LOOK forwards to this weeks challenges. First goal of the week.....Proper alarm clock setting......Second Goal.....Proper Start Time.......Third Goal.......Proper start location....All the rest is cream cheese!
Until tomorrow, TRAIN HARD and LIVESTRONG!!!
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