A.M, Ran with Jeff. Because of his calf strain we had a change of plans. We went out 3 miles so we would not be too far away from the house, then turned around, and on the way back kept going and went the other way on the trail to avoid a 180. We also kept the pace slow to avoid stirring the pot - a bit sub-8:00. We went a bit too far, and ended up with 10.43 in 1:20:39. Then Jeff stopped, and I ran the standard 10.18 course in 58:39 with a slight negative split (29:22, 29:17). So that gave me 2:19:18 for 20.63. The average pace for the last 10.18 was 5:46. I was happy that I was able to sustain the pace. It felt not so sustainable early on, and I thought I would be slowing down in the second half, especially given that it has some uphill. Turns slow you down more when fatigued as well. But I was able to stay relaxed which allowed me to maintain power in the second half and run a negative split. I found that offering a prayer to clear your mind, and thinking about a peaceful church hymn helps a lot. I like this one: Lord, accept our true devotion.
Let thy Spirit whisper peace.
Swell our hearts with fond emotion,
And our joy in thee increase.
Never leave us, never leave us.
Help us, Lord, to win the race. because of "whisper peace" and "win the race". Idle thoughts fatigue the nervous system. When peace is whispered, and the idle thoughts are gone, the neural output to the legs in the critical phase of the running stride increases and helps in the cause of winning the race. I also noticed that I was not breathing very hard. My lungs definitely felt underworked. The limit was neuromuscular. Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah.
P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:13. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:45. 0.5 with Joseph. 0.25 with Jacob.
| 