After a great easy run on the Nor-Bath Trail yesterday, I headed there again for some hard running. I had a doctor's appointment, so I got there late in the afternoon. I wasn't quite sure whether I was going to run longer segments or some short and fast repeats.
The wind was much better than a day ago, but it was still quite chilly. I went with a long sleeve top and shorts. I definitely developed some minor wind burn.
I warmed up for a mile and didn't feel all that great or fast, so I decided that there was no way I could run half mile repeats. Instead, I wanted to try a different type of workout. I've often seen workouts with several consecutive miles of hard running with a break in between and then several more miles of hard running. That is what I wanted to do. It was kind of like a combination of a tempo run and repeats. The plan was to run 4 miles pretty hard, then recover with 2 easy miles and finish up with another 4 miles of hard running.
I started off the fast part by running some decent times. However, I wasn't sure if I could keep it up. The legs didn't feel great at all. My breathing was okay. Hard mile 1 was a 6:42, but that took quite a bit of work.
The 2nd hard mile did have a road crossing, but that didn't really slow me. I just didn't feel strong and this mile really slipped. It dropped to a 6:48 and I was getting very discouraged. I was thinking of quitting and came very close to doing so. I was beginning to think that it just wasn't my day.
I decided instead that I just had to finish this first hard 4 mile segment. It didn't even matter what the pace was anymore. I had to at least get through that and then go from there. Originally, I was going to run the 2 miles out and then come back. Instead, I kept going.
The 3rd hard mile is where the magic finally started to happen. Suddenly, the legs started to come around and I began to feel much better. I ran a fast 6:36 mile. I now knew that at least this first segment would be solid.
Amazingly, I made it across Airport Road without needing to stop. That's a rarity during the busy evening hours. I continued on until almost the end of the trail. The 4th hard mile was even better than the previous one and I finished the segment with a 6:33. I was actually amazed that I had that much speed and I was certainly working hard, but felt like I could've pushed even a little more too.
I do well with shorter repeats, so I was interested to see how my body would handle these 2 recovery miles. I wanted to see how I'd bounce back. Neither one was exactly slow, so that was a good sign. The last one was even a 7:15.
I started up the 2nd hard segment. The legs took a little time to warmup, but that made for a conservative start. Although they just felt okay, I was encouraged by a strong pace. This 1st mile was a 6:37. At one point, I think I was going downhill because I felt awesome.
Things continued on the same path. I was in such a groove. The next mile was a 6:40. I was running quite consistent now. With the cold air, I felt a little funny, but I just kept pushing on. I turned around right before my car and had 2 more hard miles to go.
I had saved up a little and could push a bit more now. The legs started to feel slightly weird though, so I didn't want to go overboard. When I had started this 2nd segment, I didn't know what to expect. I just figured if I could run under 7 minutes for each one, I'd be thrilled. Now, I was well under that.
My times even dropped for both of these last 2 hard miles. They went to 6:36 and then 6:33 as I finished up going uphill slightly, but also really pushed myself. I was so thrilled when I finished.
I was even more excited when I looked at the overall pace. After 11 total miles, it was 6:58. That is under my half marathon PR and more amazing is that that is with 3 of those miles run at an easy effort. After a much slower last mile, the pace was a 7:09. I could've easily run a half marathon PR today if I tried to do so.
For the first fast segment, my time for the 4 miles was 26:39. That is an average pace of 6:40. I was surprisingly even faster on the second segment. It was a total time of 26:26, with a pace of 6:37. Those 8 hard miles combined for a time of 53:05 (6:38 pace)
This was an other amazing run that just makes Saturday all the more frustrating. I guess I just need to get over it. Maybe I need to sign up for another race. I obviously love the surface on the Nor-Bath Trail. I might push myself there and try to run a half marathon PR in the near future. I do also need to get onto some roads or paved trails and test my pace out there too at some point. If I can't run well on roads, then I have a lot of work to do to reach my goals.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to run twice. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I was thinking of going to New Jersey for the afternoon run, but I have to work at dinner time. That run will definitely be on a trail.
12 miles - 1:25:47 (7:09 pace)
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