Best Tempo Run Yet....

I hate tempo runs... hate them.. hate them... hate them... those who've followed my progress through the FIRST plan know that they came close to de-railing me a few times. I just couldn't handle the long period of pain, without the incentive of crowds, competition, water stops and cool t-shirts.

When I switched up my tempo paces from the FIRST plan (6:50-7:05 for most runs, though some were 7:20) to tempo runs from Fitzgerald's Brain Training Program (7:08), everything started to get a lot better. And when I started to ease into my first mile of tempo (rather than flooring the gas) that helped a lot, too.

Today, in a breezy hard rain, I had my best tempo run yet - after a 7:41 mile warm-up, I ran the next 4 in 7:08 - 7:12 - 7:02 - 6:59. The last mile had a big hill and I wanted to cool down the last quarter mile or so, but I still finished that mile in 7:28. Best part? I'm not even wiped out. I feel good and fresh.

Sunday calls for a 13 mile run @ 7:26 pace (marathon pace)... I've decided to do this one at home on the streets and since it's 7 miles less than the loooong runs, I get to sleep in an extra hour and still be home around 10am (which is about the time the kids are fully awake, dress and wondering how their attention-starved souls will be fed). Woohoo - that'll be cool.

Starting to get really ready for this here run -- two of my co-workers are running the Marine Corp Marathon this weekend and I'm a little jealous -- only because they get to conquer their dragons first. I'm glad I picked a small, local marathon for mine because large crowds and loud bands startle me. :)

Comments

  1. Eric Gervase8:19 PM

    Ahh... confess.. You really want to be at MCM. :)

    No, I'm sure you don't. But, we're about to finish it off. Can't wait to see how this all goes. I'll tell you all about it on Tuesday

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:38 PM

    Congratulations on conquering the tempo run! I think it is one of the best workouts around if you're looking to improve your race times.

    ReplyDelete

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