That which does not kill us, makes us stronger. - Nietzsche

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Who stole my legs....

....and replaced them with faster ones????

I ran 7 miles on Sunday. It wasn't in the training plan. I just felt like it. Well, I felt like 6 and then I decided to keep going. I checked my watch at the first mile, and did a double-take. I started out at a comfy pace and figured I was doing an 11-minute mile. And I wasn't. I made an effort to slow down because I was afraid of burning out, but I didn't. I actually really really enjoyed it. Well.....look. This is what my watch said at every mile:

Mile 1: 9:36 (!)
Mile 2: 20:00
Mile 3: 30:08 (I had decided to try to do a 10 minute mile on purpose)
Mile 4: 40:16 (Not even on purpose. That was at comfy pace.)
Mile 5: 50:34
Mile 6: 1:00:20 (!!!!!!!!)
Mile 7: 1:10:36

That's right. I've shaved 4 minutes off my 6 mile time AND did another mile AND my 7 mile time beat my 10k time from May. And I wasn't even trying to run fast!

So I figured that the mile markers must be wrong, except I've run that trail before. It's a 5 mile loop, clearly marked. (Plus I added another mile out and back.) They even did 5 miles of a 10k there. Nope, I had to convince myself that that effort was ALL me.

Monday, I ran 5k in my neighborhood. 31:47, including two traffic lights.

Today, I did a 45 minute tempo run. And I ran 4 1/2 miles. I kept an almost exact 10 minute pace, and it felt awesome.

All I can figure is that maybe the cold gives me superpowers. It's been in the high 30's/low 40's in the morning (although Sunday was a little warmer.) I hate cold. I've never really ran in cold weather before. Guess I was missing out!

Tomorrow: circuit class
Thursday or Friday: I have to do a 5 mile run somewhere in there, according to my training plan, and I have two long work days. It's mildly annoying trying to squeeze something more than 3-4 miles in during the work week. But this training plan is apparently taking my speed up a few notches, so I'm not going to complain - just going to do it!

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