Today was an unexpected one. Got up early and got in my short 3.5 mile morning run and intended on a full day of appointments up in Idaho Springs for work. Unfortunately, due to some computer issues on the work laptop that did not happen. As 11am approached and I saw that I was getting nowhere with work, I decided that I would make the trek down to Colorado Springs to catch the Prologue to the US Pro Cycling Tour. Met some friends and got some riding in while spectating. Turned out to be a great (if not HOT) afternoon. Luckily it did cool off a little (to about 83 deg) so that by about 4:30 I could get out on my run.
I know Colorado Springs is only about 1,000ft higher in elevation (~6,200ft) than Denver but I swear I feel it everytime that I run down there!
I got started with a couple of miles really easy before rolling into my 40min tempo which was supposed to have been at 6:11 pace. As the rolling gravel trail that I was running on was marked every 1/2 mile, it quickly became apparent that this was going to be a tough run. I was all over the place with my pace and didn't ever really feel like I got into a groove with my breathing or muscles. Mile 1: 6:24. crap. Mile 2: 6:19. crap. Speed up... Mile 3: 6:03. CRAP! Mile 4: 5:58. seriously? Mile 5: 6:15. After this total inconsistency and newly getting back to running anything under about 7:15 pace in 3 weeks, I gave up. and called the tempo run at roughly 31 minutes (5miles) instead of 40 minutes. The total run this afternoon turned out to be a 9.5mile run putting me at 13 miles total for the day.
The speed work absolutely dominated me and honestly left me questioning the training a bit... I mean, I haven't run that bad of a tempo run in years! ugh. I think this only solidifies the fact that I need to suck it up and throw down the $200 to get the Garmin that I need so that I can more closely monitor my pace.
Finished out the day with a total feast on pizza with my parents and some recovery for tomorrow's easy run. Hopefully Wednesday's workout will go a little better. If any of you had workouts today, I hope that they went well! Happy Training.
Are you sure the miles were marked correctly? It doesn't seem like it was a bad tempo to me, as you averaged pretty close to your goal pace. I find that when you run on anything other than a treadmill it's almost impossible to run perfectly even miles...especially if it's just some trail that's supposed to be marked "correctly." Keep your head up!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you were right Amy. There's no way that those miles could have been right. Maybe it was the varying terrain or the loose gravel, but with a pretty regulated effort level, it doesn't seem right that there would be a 20+ second variation in mile times. I may have to start doing my tempo's on a treadmill or the track!
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