Tempo time tonight: 5 X 1200 at what was supposed to be 7:00 pace. As we'll see, that's sort of what happened.
Nice night for running, coolish, felt like fog might develop at any minute, and I'm not sure it didn't toward the end. Warmed up running up to the park and then 2.5 laps. Decided I would run half-lap recoveries between the LT sessions, instead of longer recovery intervals.
First LT was 7:26 pace, although I didn't find that out until after the run, I knew it didn't feel quite right. Trotted my half-lap, then decided to go a little harder. This one felt more like it, but again I didn't know the pace until I sat down here and checked the Garmin. Another half=lap, try again. This one felt pretty good too. Another half-lap, then another good one. One more time, pushed the last LT run pretty hard, then a lap and a half and return home.
LT #2: 7:08 pace. #3: 7:02. #4: 6:59. The last one: 6:51. Amazing how many times I do that, run each and every interval faster than I did the one before (of course, if my pace judgment was better I wouldn't need to do that).
Felt kind of interesting as I returned home. Park sits atop a hill near my house, then I run down the hill and a half-mile on flat roads to get home. As I came down the hill, it became noticeably cooler, maybe 3-4 degrees, and there may well have been some fog foring in the dark down there along the creek at the bottom of the hill. And the Garmin clicked over to 10.00 miles as I stepped onto the front porch -- exactly the distance I wanted.
Twenty four days to go. When I sit down to write my race report, will I be glad, mad or sad? We shall see. | 