Rain or Shine the Road is Mine

Just an easy run because of the 10K (Speedy Spaniard) I plan on running tomorrow.  I ran the Speedy Spaniard in 42:43 last year, so I just hope to be able to beat that.

OK, so the good news is that I didn't totally give up. 

The bad news is I did worse than last year, and not just by a little.

Here are my splits:

1 - 6:50

2 - 6:50

3 - 7:04

4 - 7:28

5 - 7:15

6 - 7:11

last little bit 54 sec.

So I felt good at the starting line.  I was nervous, but able to relax with effort which is about usual for a race start.  I guessed that I would be able to beat last year's time, but thought my place would be worse because of three ladies that didn't race last year were racing this year that I thought would beat me.  The first mile is uphill and I hung with Hal and Gina.  I was hoping for 6:45 splits but could tell by mile 2 that 6:50 would be about the best I could do.  And by mile 3 and especially mile 4 I just wasn't strong enough to keep up pace.  I tend to get weak mentally as well in the middle of races. 

By the middle of mile 5 I knew I had just over 1.5 miles to go and started to pick it up (admittedly from my slow 7:30ish pace).  I wasn't able to keep up a strong pace through that entire period however.  With a mile left I found myself asking, "Why do I race for fun?  Why is this my chosen hobby?  I could be making beaded jewelry or canning fruit right now."  By .5 miles to go I knew I needed to pick it up to at least finish strong, and I told myself out loud, "Come on!  Come on!"   Funny, that didn't help much. 

I was trading places with another girl for the last two miles and was able to find it in me to pass her with .25 to go and was able to kick it in. 

I was 43 seconds slower than last year, about 7 seconds a mile slower.

I am seeing the wisdom in focusing on endurance instead of speed since this seems to be my race weakness.  I guess I should do my speed in the form of long tempo runs and only occasional long intervals on the road.  And keep my miles above 60 throughout the summer.

The good thing is that races tell you where you are.  By knowing where I am, even though it seems I am slower this year, I can run races smarter and refocus my training.

I was surprised at how sore I was today.  Normally on the racing day I feel tired all that day, but yesterday I didn't feel tired, but just nauseous all day long.  I was downing Pepto for much of the day.  So I didn't notice any fatigue or soreness.

That is, until I got out to run this morning.  My hamstrings were especially tired.

I ran for .6 miles then stopped and stretched.  Then I went on.  At times I was able to go under 9 min pace, but averaged 10 min pace. 

Payson canyon downhill run.  7:21 ave pace.  Wanted to take it easy today because of tired legs from the 10K.  So slower pace in general, but did one 6:27 mile on mile 6.  I felt a little pain in one hip for a while but it went away and I haven't felt it after running. 

Took an easy run.   I have been running my slower runs at a slower pace than I would like, so I tried to push just enough on the first mile to get me around a 9 minute pace.  I think that worked like a charm because it helped se the tone for the run and I was able to stay under 9 minute pace without too much effort for the rest of the run.

8:42 ave pace.

My legs are still tired but not "dead". I should be able to run a long run tomorrow without trouble but want to keeep the pace mellow (around 9 minute pace) for the first half so that I can do it.  I have never run more than 18 miles in one day.  I plan on going 18-19 tomorrow. 

8:57 ave pace long run.

I took it nice and easy, especially since I got only 4 hours of sleep for sundry reasons.  The sleep deprivation made the first 5 miles quite difficult -- I remember closing my eyes for a few seconds at a time to see if it would help me feel rested.  Amazingly, I felt pretty much like it was a normal run the second half, like the lack of sleep was not affecting me.  Perhaps it was the gu I took:  I ate half at mile 9 and the other half at mile 11.

This is the longest run I have ever done, but not the longest I will ever do ;)