Tuesday afternoon
1.7 mi / 2.7 km
37 F / 3 C
30 F / -1 C windchill
I was planning on a 7-mile circuit on the suburban county roads by my son's new day care. Park the car there, then run east down one county road, cut 1/2 mile south and come back west on another. But just as I was about to head out, my wife came home with a leaky water pump, the car about ready to overheat. So had to deal with that.
By the time I left, I only had about 15-20 minutes to run before I had to pick up our son. So I parked the car near the day care, without going into its parking lot so I could avoid having to wait for the light just before, and then ran south down the road I had come up on, and then returned north back to the car. I ran about as fast as I could, which, when I got home, I saw was 8mm pace on the dot--a little over it on the way down, a little under it on the way back.
I surprised myself a bit, but I knew once conditions improved it would be easier to run faster, and it was a perfect day for running--sunny, dry surfaces 99% of the time, just a little wind. Plus, unlike my neighborhood and the fairgrounds, the terrain in this first-tier suburb is close to flat.
So, I guess being forced to run fast with little time has officially inaugurated the season's return to tempo runs and intervals. After finishing my 1.7 mile tempo run, I definitely needed a little breather, but I wanted to do more, felt very unsatiated, so perhaps that's what I'll do on tomorrow's run. Maybe try 6 miles' worth, with a couple of stretching breaks, and see how that feels. Or maybe try something closer to 9mm pace and see if I can sustain it the whole way. It sure felt good to open up the range of motion a bit, and feel my form become smoother and more powerful. I really need to live somewhere where's there's no real winter!
It still amazes me how much difference a minute a mile can make. At 10mm I feel like I can run forever, like Andy describes--only my legs' joint, tendon, and ligament conditioning holds me back. At 9mm pace, I'm ok, but my cardio-vascular system can only go so far like that before it needs to rest. My leg muscles and heart and lungs conk out at about the same time, around 6-7 miles. And then at 8mm pace my CNS starts asking me to stop soon after I begin. It requires real mental effort to keep going at that pace, like doing max weight on a lift, and feels like a real workout. I like all three kinds of runs. The question is if I'll try to incorporate all three types into a week of running -
Tu: Tempo 6-7 mi
Th: Intervals/Fartleks/Hills 6-7 mi
Sa: LSD 9-10 mi, and increasing
or may try a biweekly routine to make sure I don't overdo it:
Tu: LSD 6-7 mi
Th: Tempo
or Intervals/Fartleks/Hills 6-7 mi
Sa: LSD 9-10 mi, and increasing
I read somewhere that middle-aged people should only have one challenging run per week, as we require more time to recover, but I wonder if that's being overly cautious. Thoughts anyone?
Something about other runners not liking to be passed by a barefoot runner-weird.
Yah, it seems like the equivalent of being 'chicked', and then the humiliation for them is even worse if it's a middle-aged barefoot runner! And so absolutely the worst if it's female middle-aged barefoot runner.