After a hard day yesterday, it was on to 800 meter repeats today. I was hoping to do them in the afternoon, but my car was being inspected and I had to pick it up just before dinner. I went out before eating, but in the evening. I ran 6 repeats a few weeks ago, so the plan was to run 7 or 8 this time.
When I was originally planning the run, the ground was still wet from some overnight rain. So, I decided that I would run on a paved surface. I picked the Plainfield Recreation Trail. The last time I was there was with the BCR in the snow.
It was a great evening for running. I think the temperature was in the 60s. The sun was beginning to set. I was nice and comfortable with my singlet on. The trail was very busy with walkers, runners and bikers.
I really dislike running there, so I don't do so very often. I don't know what it is. I'm not crazy about the red stone paved sections or the uphill start. It is also boring running through mostly fields. It is fairly close to me though. Today, I was too focused to notice much of the scenery.
I can typically tell from the warmup how I'll feel. Today, I was indifferent. I didn't feel great or bad. I did move along pretty briskly. Early on, I was running on the rough red pavement. There are stones that have been sealed over. It is very uneven and awkward. I was already in a negative mindset coming into the run because I don't enjoy the trail, so this didn't help the cause either.
I battled through it though. I felt pretty good on the first repeat and was moving fast. I could definitely tell that I was running a little faster than I wanted to. It was a pretty brisk 6:38 pace. For a lot of the repeat, the pace was under 6:30. I do always seem to slip in the later half of the repeats. I probably look at my watch too often too.
I took a nice and long recovery after that hard one. The second repeat wasn't much easier. I tried to back off slightly and I did, but I was still pushing pretty hard. These first few were definitely tough. This one did go downhill under and bridge, but right back up. I passed a family that was playing in the water under the bridge. The one good thing about this repeat was that it was done on normal pavement.
After two repeats, I was wondering how in the world I would complete 5 more of them. I was so beat up. I knew I had to keep going though. I just figured that I would do one more in this direction anyway. I assumed that my pace would really start to slip soon and I'd be over a 7 minute pace. Even though I felt like I backed off, this second one had been a 6:42 pace. I was more consistent throughout the repeat.
The third one was another difficult one. I was back on the red surface and really hurting. I just kept going and going. The one thing that helped was that my pace remained under 7 minutes. Usually when it slips over that, I quit too easily. It is just a mental thing. I pushed very hard at the end of the repeat. It ended up being my slowest repeat at a 6:53 pace.
I continued out a bit with another recovery segment. These were a lot slower than I usually do them at. I definitely needed recovery today. I didn't have much left, but I just turned around and decided to keep pushing on. I started off a bit easier on this one, but my pace was quick. I was definitely going downhill. It is amazing what a big difference a subtle change in grade can do to the pace on such short segments. I didn't have much in the tank, but I was able to go fast enough slightly downhill so that I could match my pace on the the earlier repeats. This fourth one came in at 6:43.
I knew at this point that I'd likely be able to at least get 5 quality ones in, especially now that I was going downhill. I figured that I had to at least start each repeat and see what happened from there. Again, I didn't push too hard and I was under 7 minute pace. It seemed like I would get faster and faster as the segment wore on. That was a big boost. I pushed pretty hard towards the end of this one. It was on smooth pavement again, so that was a big help. The pace was a 6:48. I was happy to be under 6:50 pace again.
I was super dead by this point, but I had to start another one anyway. I began it and my watch showed it well over a 7 minute pace. I got discouraged and started to slow down, but then I noticed that the pace was still dropping. When it went back under 7 minutes, that was a huge boost and I picked it up again. I was so burnt out during this one. The last two tenths of a mile were just killer. I dug deep. I thought about the bombing in Boston and that helped keep me motivated. The end of this repeat seemed uphill, but I managed to get through it. I finished this one off at a nice 6:46 pace. Again, I was under 6:50.
At this point, I was done. I could've done a seventh repeat, but it would've been pointless. I'm sure it really would've slipped. I had given all I had at that point. Getting 6 quality repeats in is certainly better than 7 or 8 so so repeats. I wish I was a little faster at this point, but there isn't much I can do. I just have to keep training hard and see where it takes me.
I'm going to be so close to my PR time for the half marathon next month. Hopefully this time I can beat it. I'd like to get some faster miles mixed into my long runs. I still have almost 5 months to get where I want for the marathon. It will be hard, but I am up for the challenge. I might have to rely on some fast friends to train with so that they can pull me along or keep me going whenever I want to quit. Thankfully, today wasn't one of those days.
Tomorrow is my LVRR Group Run. It is the third and final part of the St. Luke's Half Marathon course preview series. This time, we will be off of the streets and in the Lehigh Parkway. It should be much nicer. We'll be doing at least 4 miles, maybe more. I might run a couple miles in the morning or maybe bike at Jacobsburg.
6 miles - 45:49 (7:38 pace)
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