I tweeted for some advice, and Glenn invited me out on his 10 mile tempo run in the "bitterly cold" 65* temps. Jerk, I mean THANKS! I took him up on his "virtual" run, but opted to do 6 miles with 5 at a tempo pace. No worries, my run in the gym was equally as tropical, evidenced by the fountain of sweat that was spraying off of me. Not kidding, the worst I've ever sweat at the gym. I think I should be more embarrassed by the amount of SWASS I have when running indoors, but I don't...no shame here!
Anyway, it took me awhile for my legs to warm up. They seemed to be trudging along for that first mile. Apparently they were still maaaaad about the 10 miler I put them through this weekend, so sorry leggies. After the first mile was done, I bumped up the treadmill to 8:19 pace. Most of my tempo runs have been somewhat effortless as of late, but this one was work fo sho.
Not only was I spraying the treadmill and everyone within a 10 foot radius of me, with sweat, but I was running hard. I think the fact that everyone has joined my gym, and it's super busy after work, has increased the gym's temp a solid 8700 degrees, and my body can't handle the heat. Coincidentally, it also can't handle the cold. Go figure. :p I literally was counting down each quarter mile while I was running. I finally had to crank up the pace during the last mile just because I was ready to be done.
I did 6 miles in 50:42 for a pace of 8:29.
1. 9:36 (warm up)
2. 8:15
3. 8:15
4. 8:19
5. 8:19
6. 8:04
Tonight I did an easy 4 miles in 37:50 for a pace of 9:28 and my legs felt like lead. Hopefully they're feeling better in the morning because I have an 8 mile long run scheduled for 8 am. I might even be purchasing some YakTrax so I can get a run in while I'm out of town this weekend, visiting the land of snow (wait? don't I live in the land of snow??)
Speaking of snow and weather, guess who's temps got above freezing today?!?!? Oh ya, ours. It might even be in the UPPER 30's this weekend. Holy heat wave. And yes, I wore just shorts and a jacket to the gym tonight...... Gotta live it up, right? How sad is it that it's in the 30's and it's over 50 degrees warmer than it was last week? Ok, enough about the weather.Random observation: I was looking at my running log from a year ago (Dec. 08/Jan. 09) back when I started running again after taking 3-4 months off (and really running at a half-assed level prior to those 3-4 months) and I was shocked at what I saw! I was a good 20 lbs. heavier a year ago. Now I know I've gotten in shape and gotten a lot more fit in the last year, but I guess I didn't realize by how much. Not only that, but I was running 2.5 miles in a 10:45 pace (walk/jogging). It's really fun to see progress in a numerical sense for me. And it's super motivating to see what I can do in 2010.
13 comments:
impressive progress!!! That;s pretty awesome.
Look at how far you've come!
Speedy pace for the six miles, for sure.
DAYUM progreesss for sho!
"SWASS" - Lol. Omg, Jeri. I sweat like crazy on the 'mill too. Do you keep a towel (or two? ha, just sayin' ) with you?? Helps, like *whoa*!
I had some heavy legs on a 6 mile tempo-er yesterday too - but hey, done and done! go, us!
nice work on getting your pace up to sped in a year! what race are you training for right now? just smush two of the 4 runs into one super-run!
Ha ha! I made you do it! Ha ha! But wait a minute. The weather Gods didn't reward you with cold!!!! Karma I guess.
Since you enjoy tempo runs, when the weather warms up and you can go outside, you might consider using the longer tempo runs. Evidently, new studies are finding that they are almost as helpful as the long run to marathon performance. This is my first time at using them in a training cycle, and they are kicking my butt! But, I'm essentially running a 10K PR everytime I run one of these during training. So something is working....
spraying sweat?! yuck! glad I live many states away from that. :)
It will all warm up soon and you can water the Dakota grass with your sprays and put away the virtual games. Or you could move to warmer climates.
Seriously though, you will do well in your marathon training. Have fun with it though.
That gives me such motivation that your pace increased so much!! Way to go on the 20 pounds, that is awesome!
Amazing progress. I love looking back and seeing my times from last year. It's motivating
Awesome progress since a year ago!
nice! impressed with your progress as a runner and a woman. :)
You've come a long way! Great work.
That is awesome that you are seeing such awesome results! Very inspiring!!
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