Today was just another speed trial day. Originally, I wanted to see if I could hold a 6:51 pace for 8 to 10 miles. I figured if I could, I would enter a half marathon next weekend. I may still do it anyway.
It was perfect weather this afternoon as I headed to the Nor-Bath Trail. However, I didn't feel great going there. I was constantly burping. I figured it might not be a great day.
I wanted to go out a mile and then back to warmup. I passed these two little kids walking with their mom early on. They were cute and must've been twins. They were fascinated by a runner.
The warmup was okay, but during the second mile, my pace was hovering around 7:30. Of course I could go faster, but I wasn't even sure if I could sustain that current pace for 8 miles, let alone running faster for mile after mile.
I decided to just change the workout on the fly. I just need to run any type of speed workouts that I can get at this point and improve my breathing. I usually do very well with half mile repeats. I can go hard and then recover within the easy quarter mile segment. I had no plan of how many to do. I was just going to go until I felt that I had enough.
I started out at what felt like a pretty comfortable pace for the first fast half mile. At one point, the pace was well under 6 minutes. I figured that was too fast, too soon and decided to slow down. Really I didn't slow much as I finished that repeat up at 3:03 (6:07 pace).
These were definitely tough and my breathing labored from this first one all the way through to the last one. My legs were pretty good though, so that kept me going. The second one started out too fast again. This one had a road crossing on Weaversville Road. I didn't want to wait for cars, so I ran along the road and then crossed when I could. That threw me off by a couple seconds no doubt. This was still a 3:09 though.
I managed to recover well in between segments, but my easy pace was dropping and dropping. When that happens, I know each repeat is taking a lot out of me. That was fine though.
The third repeat was more of the same. I kept trying to start out slower, but it was hard to do. My pace would begin too fast and then I'd fade, but try to hang on. At least I was relatively consistent. This third one was a 3:08.
I started the fourth one as I got closer and closer to Airport Road. There was no way I was going to even try to cross that road during a fast segment. Luckily, it ended before that with a 3:07.
I turned around at Airport Road and headed back. By now, I knew I was losing it, but still felt that I had one more in me. With my legs recovering fairly well, that was a big help. I figured since this was the last one, I could push a little more. I definitely did just that and bounced back with a 3:05. This one actually did start out slower. Maybe that helped. I was glad to be done with a solid five reps.
I recovered from that one and just figured I'd start a sixth one. My legs were pretty gone by then tough, so I cut it off very early. Five was enough and a good start. I just want to see where I'm at. I didn't want to overdo it.
I was hoping to run about 12 miles total, so I was very disappointed when I realized that I was only just past 5.5 miles at that point. It was a long way back too. I just sputtered along nice and easy.
Right before getting back to my car, I saw the little kids again. I arrived at the car just before mile 8. I wanted to try to get to mile 10 anyway. It was getting chilly now though, so I grabbed a jacket and a quick drink.
I saw the kids again and their mom commented about me still running. Actually, it was a short day for me time wise. My legs were very beat by now and my pace was super slow. I just battled to get the last 2 miles in. They were slow, but I got it done.
Today wasn't what I had hoped for, but it was still productive. Any hard running that I do now makes progress for me at this point. I'm very thrilled with where I'm at and can't wait until I get my breathing down. My times will really drop then.
The average for the fast parts of this run was under 3:07. Not bad for 5 repeats. If I can do 10 of those at that pace, Yasso 800s predict that I can run a 3:07 marathon. I don't think that's quite accurate, but I'm not too far off of that and I'm months from any marathon attempt.
I rode a recovery ride on the Saucon Rail Trail in the evening. That was tough because the stone they use doesn't have much grip. It was kind of annoying, although coming back was downhill and I flew. I'm not sure I'll ride there again.
If I recover well enough, I'm hoping to put in another big day tomorrow. Doing nothing on Sunday has really set me back with my goals for this week. I have a lot to do in the next 3 days. I'll probably have to run and ride each day. If I could get up for a morning run tomorrow, that would be a big help.
10 miles - 1:21:48 (8:11 pace)
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