A.M. 20 mile run. Chad Robinson came to run with me. He is a recent convert to the true religion of running in Crocs. I observed the he looked much like Ed Eyestone and spent a good portion of the run trying to figure out why he cannot run 27:41 10,000 meters yet. We did a test running a mile in 5:55. I watched the splits, listened to his breathing, monitored the patterns of fatigue using the "how do I drop this guy" sense, and concluded that the main weakness was the lack of leg strength. Chad weighs only 120 lb while 6-1 tall. So my recommendations were smart hill work and appetite boosters like garlic and cayenne pepper in addition to consistent mileage. Chad was only going 12, but I was easy to talk into going a little further out, so he ended up going to about 7.5 and then waiting for me to come back to finish the 15. I went to the 10 mile mark to make the total of 20. On the way back, starting about 10.5 into the run I did a 3 mile tempo down the Provo Canyon. The target was 5:20 pace. I did the first mile in 5:11, then got scared/tired and ran 5:27 for the second mile. After hitting a quarter in 83 right before the 2 mile mark I realized I need to get down to business and gave it a more serious push, which gave me 5:17 for the last mile, and the total time of 15:55. It felt good to do this workout, as the downhill helped me move my legs faster for longer than normal. I was pleased with the last mile, as I had serious doubts about my ability to break 5:20 after the 5:27 middle mile "goose egg". It was nice to have Chad for a little bit in the last mile. Some thoughts on the "how do I drop this guy" sense. It is developed through racing, and its original purpose is to know when and how hard to surge so you can make your competitor suffer the most at his weakest moment. But just like nuclear energy it can be used for peaceful purposes such as pacing or evaluating fitness. For example, you can know that the person you are pacing has two 6:20 miles in him left, or one 6:10. So if you have 2 miles to go and you are leading him at 6:10, he will slow down to 6:30 in half a mile from fatigue and the fear of having to run another 1.5 miles. P.M. 0.6 miles doing errands on foot.
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