Same Time, Same Channel

Fartlek Run + Progression:
3 miles easy
3 miles: 1 min. @ 10K pace/1min. Easy
2 miles easy
2 miles hard

7:49 am, 63-66° ,13% humidity, wind 3 WSW, cloudy.

I've been dreading this workout all week. This dread factored into my decision to skip my 4 mile easy run yesterday. Other factors were the flatness I felt during my workout on Thursday, soreness from my workout on Thursday, and the need to get my boys to the church to leave for a campout at 7 am.

I did this run all by myself on the Highline Canal trail. While I was struggling through this run, I thought of Michelle and Rachel and others running the Utah Valley Marathon this morning. At least I didn't have to run a marathon today. I really missed doing my Saturday morning run with Michelle. And I missed getting a high five from her at the end of the run. I'll be alone again next Saturday because she won't be back from Utah yet.

During the first mile, I saw a little area roped off by the side of the trail with a sign that said, "Bee careful. Bee habitat in tree." Presumably it was still there when I went back that way at the end of my run. But I didn't see it. I don't see anything but the ground in front of me when I'm trying to push it at the end of a run.

I've had lots of runs lately that have requested moderate pace the last 20 minutes. This was supposed to be hard the last 2 miles. For faster runners, 2 miles would be a much shorter distance than the distance they would go for 20 minutes at a moderate pace. But for me, it's about the same distance. And it was hard instead of moderate. However, when I have moderate, I think I typically run hard, particularly the last mile. Another thing about this hard designation: It just says hard, not a specific pace. So my pace on those last two miles was not anything impressive. But it was hard for me. Really it was.

Since there are so many reps of the 1 min. @ 10K pace/1 min. Easy, I set up this workout in my watch prior to the run. The current version of Training Center is smart enough to do repeats of 1 min fast/1 min slow over a distance of three miles. However, my old watch isn't smart enough to accept that workout. So instead, I estimated 14 reps of the 1 min. fast/1 min. slow. This ended up to be 3.09 miles, so I cut the 2 mile Easy portion that was supposed to follow the intervals a little bit short by hitting the lap button when I got to 8 miles. I knew that I wouldn't want to run 0.9 past the finish line at the end. I was pretty tired by the time I finished those intervals, as you can see by my easy paces for the last few intervals and my easy pace after the intervals.

Also, I have no clue what my 10K pace is. I haven't run a race that I could base paces off of in a long time.

I put all those 1 min. fast intervals in the Fast Miles bucket even though they weren't all below the magic number. But I did try to run fast on them. Of course, I tried to run fast the last two miles too, but I didn't manage to get those miles anywhere near the Fast Miles bucket.

AP: 9:33.

3 miles easy: 10:17, 9:57, 9:54

14 x 1 min. fast/1 min. easy:

 1.91 miles easy: 1 mile @ 10:07, 0.91 mile @ 10:00

2 miles hard: 9:14, 8:56