Plateaued
Running is a game of seconds. Took it out one more time to the BN loop this morning with no other goal than to break 24 minutes for the first 4 tempo miles on this course. In past weeks I have come in at 24:04, 24:01 and 24:13 (wind-hampered). Today I came in at 24:04. F***!
I'll back up. I have the kids this week which means its early to bed and early to rise. I got out at 5am and consequently hit MLK Drive in the dark. This meant I had a hard time reading the splits and at mile 3 was expecting to see a reading showing I was on a straight 6 pace and the watch read 18:12. I ran a heroic fourth mile in 5:52 to come up a few seconds short. I then felt like I hauled up the BN but my times here - 8:58 and 16:34, are virtually identical to last week. Not until I was cooling down on top of Belmont Plateau did the dawn creep up behind the Center City skyline.
I shouldn't make too much out of this. I obviously am a bit, shall we say, plateaued with my times on this course, and will have to go into Boston with this. I know I can go faster, but I guess what disappoints me is that I imagine this week, the last of hard training, as ending more climactically than this. But today was strange. I kept feeling I was going fast, that I could run harder, but then whenever I'd downshift my pace would drift back to an equilibrium that was a bit slower than I wanted. Go figure. To add insult to injury, my 3.5 or so cooldown miles felt strong, like I still had something to give.
Again, its nothing more than a funky workout. It amounts to the last tempo workout I need to do in this training cycle. Good riddance. I am feeling tempted, however, to sneak down to the Drives at some point and try that four mile stretch again - a few seconds faster this time.
13.5 miles in 1:40:18.
I'll back up. I have the kids this week which means its early to bed and early to rise. I got out at 5am and consequently hit MLK Drive in the dark. This meant I had a hard time reading the splits and at mile 3 was expecting to see a reading showing I was on a straight 6 pace and the watch read 18:12. I ran a heroic fourth mile in 5:52 to come up a few seconds short. I then felt like I hauled up the BN but my times here - 8:58 and 16:34, are virtually identical to last week. Not until I was cooling down on top of Belmont Plateau did the dawn creep up behind the Center City skyline.
I shouldn't make too much out of this. I obviously am a bit, shall we say, plateaued with my times on this course, and will have to go into Boston with this. I know I can go faster, but I guess what disappoints me is that I imagine this week, the last of hard training, as ending more climactically than this. But today was strange. I kept feeling I was going fast, that I could run harder, but then whenever I'd downshift my pace would drift back to an equilibrium that was a bit slower than I wanted. Go figure. To add insult to injury, my 3.5 or so cooldown miles felt strong, like I still had something to give.
Again, its nothing more than a funky workout. It amounts to the last tempo workout I need to do in this training cycle. Good riddance. I am feeling tempted, however, to sneak down to the Drives at some point and try that four mile stretch again - a few seconds faster this time.
13.5 miles in 1:40:18.
posted by seebo | 10:35 AM
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