Yesterday when I got back from my run Tom asked how it went. I said fine. Kind of tired, nice and easy 45 minutes. He then said, "I thought Tuesday was tempo Tuesday." Note: if my husband goes through the trouble of writing up a running plan for me I should have the decency to consult it. Duh. In my defense, my tempos used to be on Wednesday. Tempo Tuesday, tempo Tuesday--must get this in my head.
I woke up at 5:30 this morning and eventually talked myself into getting out of bed. The whole house was quiet. Tom wasn't stirring and it was cloudy. I so did not want to get out of bed--especially for a tempo run. I love/hate tempo runs. I had every intention of asking Tom to clarify a pace for me last night but I forgot. And there he was sound asleep. As much as he likes to talk running I knew this was not the time.
I warmed up for 10 minutes and had a bad collision with a rock I stepped on. I swore I had done some damage but I recovered and on I went. I chose a loop around the neighborhood that is largely flat. I hit the shuffle and off I went. I didn't have a pace in mind--just wanted to run hard. Two songs into my mix I realized only two songs had loaded. Another duh. The first split was 8:30 and I was working hard.
I was seriously bummed about the music but kept telling myself to push on. The second split came in at 8:02. Nice I thought. My effort level was pretty hard but I also could maintain the pace. I noticed myself glancing at the watch more often than I probably should have but this was my very first tempo run outside. Up until now I've done them all on the TM afraid I would never have the mindset to keep the pace myself.
The last split came in at 7:59. I was tickled. If this was a race, I would have seriously PR'd. I ran an easy 10 minute cool down and headed home. I asked Tom this morning about what kind of effort level I should be putting out on these runs and had yet another duh moment. Not so hard that I'm gasping for breath all the time and certainly not race level because recovery will take too long. DUH! Oh well. What's done is done and now I know I can run faster if I really want to. I hope it's just not too bad tomorrow. . .
About Me
- Jen
- I'm a history Ph.D. with a passion for making good, wholesome food. Over the past few months we have made dramatic changes in our diet. We eat dramatically less meat, dairy, and avoid over-processed foods. I want to share some of the great recipes and information I've discovered to help you revolutionize the way you eat.
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4 comments:
Way to go!! Your progress has been amazing. Such improvement in such a short time!
Tempo runs are not fun, but they make racing much more pleasant. You can tell yourself, "I can handle this. I did it in practice x times already..."
Keep up the good work!
You are getting speedy!!! I'm jealous.
Heather-when I saw Tom's times dramatically improving it was all about the track and speed work. I find one day a week does it for me. I don't particularly like the tempo run but I do enjoy the feeling when I'm done. For me, it really, really helped at Broad Street and I'm feeling like they help on my 10+ milers.
Nice! I did Tempo Thursday for the first time since April today. It felt great!! I needed to make my blog private for work reasons. If you want to read, have Tom PM me your email and I will add you as invited reader.
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