Sore

I guess there are still one or two points I have yet to learn about running – no surprise here. The last two workouts went exactly the opposite way I expected them to go, one good and one bad. Now, if I could figure out those things in advance rather than with help of hindsight I might be able to train smarter.

I was already writing my next blog entry in my head before yesterday’s workout. On the cards were 12 miles, with 9 of them at 7:15. Okay, the original plan said 10 with 8, but I added a mile to both the warm-up and the faster part. I have tried that workout twice before in the last month and never managed to get the pace better than 7:25. I expected the same again and already formulated sentences in my head about how I can’t understand how I can run 6:12 in a race and it feels almost effortless but can’t hit a minute slower than that in a training run.

Well. After 3 slow miles I pushed the accelerator and took off. The first half mile was slightly downhill, which helped I guess. This was in Valentia, relatively unknown territory to me, which meant I wasn’t quite sure where the imaginary mile markers are, but it became obvious soon enough that not only was I running the required pace, I was exceeding it by a good margin. This was confirmed at the turn-around point after 3 miles, when only 21:04 had passed (7:01 pace). I took it a bit easier on the return leg, but keep in mind that the last half-mile was uphill, and in light of that 7:21 pace isn’t too far out. The third sector (with the downhill half-mile again, obviously) was closer to target pace, 7:12. I faced an unusual problem on that stretch, namely that I was staring right into the sun. I had left my shades at home, and by now the ubiquitous clouds were gone and the sun had risen and I was running straight towards it. Whenever I tried to look down my running form became hunched, and as soon as I corrected that I was looking into the ball of fire again. This went on for nearly two miles, when the road finally turned a few degrees, enough for me to avoid the straight gaze.

I was a happy man after that workout. I had hit the target time and the effort had definitely been manageable. I finished the run with the knowledge that I could have run further or faster, which is what you should always feel like after a workout, isn’t it?

I was already looking forward to today’s run, the second part of that double header, and I was confident I’d finally be able to nail both parts of the workout. Maybe it would have gone better had I been a bit more cautious? After another slow warm-up I was supposed to hit 8:00 pace for the next 10.5 miles. I did very well for the first 2.5 miles of that, but then got a bit taken away. Without really noticing I sped up, and even when I realised that I was getting ahead of target I didn’t reign myself in, which, in hindsight, I should have done. As I was flying along at 7:45 I felt really good, and was still confident that I had another gear or two in store for later on. The first doubts didn’t appear until near the end of the segment, when I finally started to tire. The plan was to get down to 7:15 pace again for the next 3 miles, and even though I tried really hard, the legs were gone. I didn’t get faster than 7:30, and even then the end of that segment couldn’t come fast enough. The last time I tried this kind of run I managed to draw out the faster part for a bit longer, but there was no chance of that happening today. I couldn’t believe that the massive increase in effort only resulted in a lousy 15 seconds per mile improvement, but I can’t really argue with my watch.

The obvious answer is that I shouldn’t have run the preceding part faster than planned, and I’ll keep the lesson in mind. Next time I try this I won’t be quite so cocky, believe me. The figures for the run aren’t that bad, actually. The average pace was sub-8, even with a very slow warm-up, but the point is that the 3 fast miles were the most important part of it, and I screwed that one up. I'm tired and sore now. Tomorrow will be easy.

17 Jul: 12 miles, 1:30:28, 7:32 pace, avg. HR 151, with 9 miles @ 7:12
18 Jul: 18 miles, 2:23:36, 7:58 pace, avg. HR 148, with 10.5 miles @ 7:50 and 3 miles @ 7:32