Tonight was yet another great group run. I ran with the Finish Line Running Store group again. This time one of the girls from the store that hadn't run before joined us. She's competing now as a USA Triathlete after running in college. I was excited when I heard that. I need someone to pull me along.
We ran a loop through two parks over there. I did that one a few weeks back. It started off at a fast pace of around an 8 minute mile and got even faster. There was another guy who I'd run with a few weeks back. Him, the girl and I pulled away early.
The pace was just a little to fast for me though. After just under two miles I backed off. I stayed strong enough to keep them in my sites. I still didn't really know the course either, so I need to keep in touch to make sure I didn't get lost. The pace seemed to get faster and faster.
As we when around a community pool, I really had to battle. One thing that is sure working for me know is my health. Every time I think of quitting, I tell myself this hurt is nothing. It's nowhere near as bad as what I've been through in the last year. This time a year ago, I was in nonstop pain and popping Percocet. Thinking of that really makes running seem much easier.
As we got to around the three mile mark, I couldn't believe the pace. I was going about 7:45. That's nearly as fast as my 5K race three weeks ago. We ran up a long and gradual hill. I could see that I was slowly reeling the two of them in. That was big motivation and I really pushed hard. We took a wrong turn for a brief moment and I then caught up to them.
I'm too competitive so I ran hard at the finish and actually beat them back. The girl could've clearly destroyed me if she wanted to though. She was fresh and I was burnt out. It was an amazing workout.
I just finished reading Born to Run again for the 3rd time. In that book, they jokingly called some female ultrarunner "the witch." The Tarahumara Indians didn't really mind losing to a female, but it was played up like they did. I couldn't help but think of the same thing as I was chasing this girl down tonight. Clearly, she's not a witch, but I hate losing to any females nonetheless. I guess it's just a male ego thing. Even knowing I'm nowhere near peak form, it still bothers me.
After the run, I still did 4X8 second hill sprints on South Mountain near Lehigh. My hamstring is fairly sore, so I massaged it and will do so again later. I must be crazy because my legs were beat on the drive home, but I was still jealous of someone I saw running at Northampton Community College.
I should take it easy tomorrow, but who knows if I will. I'd like to work in some hills, especially since the weather has been cool. I'm almost tempted to run twice tomorrow, for no other reason than I'm motivated. I also am considering scrapping my training plan and going even hard. Neither is really smart though. Hopefully, I'll be wise and hold back, but it just isn't easy. I'm so hungry to go further and faster.
4.37 miles - 33:56 (7:45 pace)
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