After a decent group run last night, it was time for a harder workout today. My speed sessions this winter and spring have just been 800 repeats. I wanted to try to sustain a hard effort for a longer period of time, so I decided to try a tempo run. The plan was to run 8 miles with the middle 4 miles at tempo pace.
The weather was beautiful. It was in the low 60s, pretty much a perfect spring day. It was a little humid and actually kind of breezy. It seemed like the breeze was in both directions too. Still, I couldn't ask for much better weather. I'll be dreaming of days like this in a couple months when the temperatures are in the 90s.
I wore shorts, my compression socks and a singlet. I headed out to Mill Race Park. After an 18 mile long run on Monday and a 7 miler yesterday, my legs were feeling pretty beat up. I didn't work, so I ran around lunch time. My body could've used a later run, but I wanted to get it out of the way. Normally, I will have a day off before my hard runs.
I started off heading towards Tatamy. That section has some stone and I didn't want to run that while I was going hard. I planned for an easy mile out and another easy one back before getting to the start of the meat of the run. After just a few steps, I knew it could be a tough day. My legs were stiff and didn't want to move.
I hoped that they might come around by 2 miles. I figured I had to at least start the hard segment of the run and adjust accordingly. That's just what I did. I could only get .75 miles out before the path ended, so I turned around at that point. It worked out good because I could cross Newlins Mill Road while I was running easy.
I started going hard after 2 miles. I tried not to go too hard, but I sort of just ended up in my 800 repeat pace range. Ideally, I would've gone about 10-15 seconds per mile slower, but that is kind of a tough area for me to hit since I don't run that pace. My pace is usually just under 8 minutes for a slow run or around 6:40 for faster shorter bursts. I don't run much in between.
That's what this run was aiming to accomplish. As I neared the first 800, I could actually feel my legs slipping. The pace was just under 7 minutes for the first mile. It was tough. I knew at that point that I didn't have it in me to sustain a hard effort for 4 miles. My body just isn't used to it. I do love running hard for 800 meters and then recovering. I need to teach my body how to love something that I don't enjoy, which is sustaining a hard effort over several miles.
I just plugged along. They still haven't open the new part of the trail officially. That is really annoying. I don't know what they are waiting for. It is completed and it is already the beginning of May. Let people enjoy the trail. Of course, I still run on it anyway. The annoying thing was that I had to run around the gates that weren't opened and my pace slid. I felt like a lot of this 2nd mile was uphill. I'm not sure if it was.
I crossed another road and finished up mile 2 just after that. That mile was a 7:03. I knew a 3rd mile would just be so difficult. I decided to head back and this point and throw in a recovery mile. I hoped my legs and lungs could come back. It was a combination of both that was limiting me today, but probably more so my lungs.
My legs just felt horrible and weren't recovering at all. It seemed like I was running against the wind too. Still, I figured I had to at least try another hard repeat. I had hoped that I could at least run another mile with that type of effort.
I started off cruising and was again around a 6:40. After a tenth of a mile, it was getting very hard. I tried to mentally stay strong. I pushed myself and thought about getting to Boston as well as the victims of the Boston bombings. That got me farther along than I normally would've gone.
I just didn't have a full mile more in at that effort though. Finally, when I reached .5 miles into this fast effort, I stopped and started to cool down. That was enough. I wasn't going to beat myself up any more. Maybe if I was rested better I could've done more. I don't know. I finished up with an easy mile. Even that seemed kind of hard on my legs.
I was happy to string together back to back solid hard miles. I should be able to break a 7 minute pace for a 5K right now anyway. I'm happy with that. I was hoping that I could be closer to 6:45, but I guess I won't know until I get into an actual race. I might do that next week.
I've been running well lately and this was a good run to bring me back down to earth. If anything, I tend to get overconfident at times when it comes to my running. Still, I'd rather do that than have it be the other way. While I am running well overall, this run allowed me to see how much further I need to go.
If I really push myself right now, I can only run 2 or 3 miles at most at a 6:51 pace. That is the pace I'm shooting for for a full marathon in 4 months. It might be unrealistic, but I'll know that awhile down the road. For now, I'll keep working at it. I just signed up today for the VIA Marathon, so now I can really focus on it.
I might throw in some biking this afternoon. Tomorrow, is my usual evening group run. I'd like to get to Trexler sometime too. Maybe I'll meet up with Flo in the morning. That could be kind of tight with my work schedule. I need to get there at some point.
6.5 miles - 51:25 (7:55 pace)
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