Well, I've been lazy the past couple weeks, but only in regards to updating my blog. With my running, I haven't slacked off a bit. In fact, I've stepped it up. Last week I got sick Sunday night, but it was close to a 24 hour bug so I didn't let it affect my running plans too much. I was a little weaker so I didn't run as far, but I didn't take any extra days off.
The extra rest (mileage-wise) must have helped, because last Thursday I had a great run (details here). I set out with a bit of a spring in my step, and I didn't realize quite how fast I was going. The first half mile was in 8:13. That was the first time I looked at my watch, and I was quite surprised. Effort-wise, I felt like I was doing 9:00. Once I saw that, I decided to punch it up a notch and just run pretty fast the rest of the way. The next half mile was in 7:08. After that, I settled in at around 7:35-7:40 for the rest of the way. I put in a kick at the end, doing the last tenth of a mile at around 6:00. I ended up doing a 5k in 23:35. (The data shows a little different, but that's because I didn't hit stop on my watch right away.) This shocked me, because I feel like I could have maintained a slightly faster pace the entire time, and my goal at the time for my next 5k race was going to be under 24:00. Obviously I'm going to have to set a loftier goal than that, so here it is: instead of under 24:00, I'm going to shoot for under 23:00. I have an opportunity coming up on December 5th, so here's hoping I make it!
I had a tough 7 mile run on Saturday that felt more difficult than it should have. I think dehydration contributed to the difficulty. On Sunday, I ran on the treadmill, doing a warmup and cooldown with 3 8:00 miles in the middle. So far I've run everyday this week, but Monday through Wednesday were mostly easy or marathon paced runs. That brings me to today.
Today, I decided it was time for some VO2-max intervals (details here). Using my trusty pace from Daniels' Running Formula, I set out to do a 10 minute warmup, 6x(3:00 at 7:24 pace, 2:00 at easy pace), followed by a 10 minute cooldown. Well, I tried to run at about 7:24 pace, but I really wasn't breathing as hard as I believe I should have. In fact, it felt downright easy. The last time I did intervals, I was definitely breathing heavily after the first two, and couldn't even finish the fifth. Well, I ended up doing the next 5 at closer to 7:15, and even then, I didn't feel like I was stressing my aerobic system to it's maximum until I hit the fifth interval.
The fifth interval was a doozy, because for those of you familiar with Lakeville and North Park, I was heading back west on the path, and the interval started when I was at the bottom of the steep hill close to Highview (the one with a bench off to the side at the top). Well, that hill immediately took all the easiness out of it, and the next 8 minutes were a battle, but happily, I was triumphant. It was a bit of a struggle to keep running in the first few minutes of the cooldown, but eventually my heart settled down and I was able to run without much effort again.
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