Thursday, July 23, 2009

brain pain + tempo run


I sure do love getting to sleep in on Thursdays. 4:30am? No way. I even reset my alarm after it went off at 7am, this girl needs her beauty sleep. I finally got up at 8, and was out the door at 8:30 for my tempo run. 6 miles, 4 at 8:19 pace. Slightly excited, as I’ve never done a tempo run with more than 3 miles at a tempo pace.

Folks, it is HOT at 8:30am. Bleck. I should’ve just gotten up to do my run and then gone back to bed. Yet the bikers were still wearing pants and jackets. Crazy bikers. I did actually see a dude wearing old school sweat pants. I think my jaw dropped, as I had already sweated through my lightweight tank.

But on to the run, I did the first mile at a very leisurely pace. When my time popped up, I was kind of shocked at how slow it showed. I haven’t ran a 10 mm for quite a while. But oh well. Kicked it in to the tempo pace. First tempo mile beeps in at 8:31. Whoa. Not even close to the pace I was shooting for. At this point, I decided that my legs couldn’t do that pace for whatever reason, and would just go at an 8:30 mm pace if that’s what they wanted.

Except that the next 3 tempo miles came in at 8:11, 8:12, and 8:08. So now I’m thinking there’s something a little fishy going on with the old G-Man, because honestly my level of exertion was almost identical for all 4 miles. While doing my final mile cool down, I was able to determine that my Garmin had lost ~.06 miles in the first couple of miles (based on the landscape markers for my out and back). After tacking the extra .03 to each of the first miles, the splits seemed much closer.

Officially unofficial splits:
1.03 9:57 (9:40 pace)
2.03 8:31 (8:17 pace)
3. 8:11
4. 8:12
5. 8:08
6. 8:51 .04 :21

6.1 miles in 52:15 for a pace of 8:34. My tempo miles were a pace of 8:12, which I think was the goal pace of last week's tempo that my legs seem to have memorized. I'll take it. :)

As soon as I walked in the door I SLAMMED two glasses of water. But I’ve had a monster headache all day. It’s days like today that I wish I worked in the medical field and could just hook myself up to an iv during my break to rehydrate. I can’t seem to take in enough water. Boo.
After my shower, I did manage to make an AWESOME green monster. I haven’t had one for a few weeks, and it cooled me off right away. I had a huge handful of spinach, some vanilla soy milk, half a scoop of whey protein powder, 3 strawberries, and half a banana. Nom. I did get some somewhat strange looks from my co-workers for my breakfast though.

Tonight I am attempting my first legit 2-a-day run. I have an easy 4 on the schedule tomorrow, but Taylor’s brother is getting married Saturday and their rehearsal and dinner is tomorrow night. I’m guessing it won’t be an early night and waking up so early to run tends to make me want to crash at about 10, so I figure this would work out perfect. Plus then my legs have tomorrow off in preparation for the long 10 on Saturday. I’m hoping to run off my headache. Ugh.

12 comments:

Trying To Heal said...

awesome run...and i totally know what you mean about the headaches. i get them after like, 3 miles in moderate weather...but i can't drink while i run because it make me throw up. crappy situation...but i feel you on the headaches. hope yours went away!

Mica said...

Awesome tempo, those are some speedy splits! Maybe your body just adjusted after the first tempo mile and said, "Hey! This isn't so bad!"

Good luck on the two-a-day!

Anonymous said...

Nice tempo run! Those are my faves (run for a mile, fast for ~3-4, cool down). good luck with the 2-a-day!! Seems fitting to have the day before 10 off :)

No Longer Using said...

great tempo!!! it's soooo nice not to be rushed in the morning :) i love when i have those days. and sleep will almost always come first for me,... hehehe. but i hear ya on the heat. although it's been pretty cool up here in boston, which is surprising but super nice! i mean since i dont' have time to go to the beach i'm not gonna complain,... lol

GREAT RUN!!!!!!! i love that you took your warm up slow and then just kicked it in for the tempo. 4 miles is a super tempo!!!!! and that's a great idea about a second easy run!!!!!! loosen up and gain yourself some extra time to rest :)

Julia said...

I find that running on hot days gives me headaches too, no matter how much water I slam afterwards. I think I need to drink more BEFORE and DURING the run.
Cute cat pic BTW, I am a sucker for all things cat!

Jamie said...

Awesome job speedster! Can you send some of that my way? Hope the 2 a day went well!

You may have gotten the headache b/c you didn't take enough fluids in on the run then took too much in too fast when you got home. I know you want to gulp it fast when dying but try to drink it slower/sip. Hope the sucker went away before the 2nd run.

J said...

Hope the runs went well and you have fun at the wedding! I love weddings they are so much fun!

Unknown said...

Great times. Like the tempo run concept. The main purpose of me leaving a comment is to say THANK YOU! Thank you! Thank you. -CW

X-Country2 said...

Great run. Especially with the heat. That's at least a 10% increase. (What I tell myself, anyway. :o)

Glenn Jones said...

Great little tempo run! Tempos are really my favorite workout. Unfortunately, the training plan that I'm using doesn't use tempo runs as part of training. Boo hoo!

And thank for the words of encouragement on marathon training. It does require quite a commitment - both physically and timewise.

Sarah said...

The summer headaches totally suck, don't they? Good luck staying hydrated!

Amy said...

Awesome tempo! Good job. I'm like you...I don't always stick to the times but just go how my legs feel. And then sometimes they surprise us with faster times! It all works out, sometimes!

I wanted to answer your question ab the Target tank...I think they are pretty roomy and don't hug very much, so they are good for people of several sizes. I think you'd like them!