Ran up Emigration to about 1/2 mile above the Pinecrest turnoff and back. First 5 at super easy pace, then tried to maintain HR at 171 or better the rest of the way. The first 2.6 of the MP effort section were uphill. Took a PowerGel (strawberry-banana w/caffeine) at 5 while I stretched for a minute and one Enervitene at 10 on the run. Here are the splits:
Mile 6: AHR 163 (7:11) (uphill--temp was pretty chilly, which probably made it harder to raise HR to target)
Mile 7: AHR 169 (7:25) (still up)
Mile 8: AHR 171 (6:48) (0.6 up the steepest part of the run, 0.4 down)
Mile 9: AHR 164 (5:36) (back down, felt really relaxed)
Mile 10: AHR 167 (5:48)
Mile 11: AHR 164 (5:50) (I lost focus a little on this mile and got a little too relaxed)
Mile 12: AHR 169 (5:41) (I re-engaged)
Mile 13: AHR 170 (5:43) (focused but relaxed)
Mile 14: AHR 172 (5:37) (still feeling good)
Mile 15: AHR 175 (5:25) (felt HR rising, but still felt strong)
This was the first tempo run I've done in a long time where I felt strong and relaxed all the way through. Over the past several weeks (even months), I've felt pretty spent on these runs. Today's run was a nice confidence booster. I was comfortably tired at the finish, not at all wiped out.
I'm pacing Clark Hirschi in the Wasatch 100 tonight from Brighton to the finish, so I'm going to focus today on getting my calories and hydrating. The last time I paced Clark (in 2006) he finished 7th overall in less than 23:30, and he's hoping for a similar result this year, so I need to be ready to do a little work. I'm supposed to meet him at Brighton around 9:30 p.m. Good luck, Clark! | 