Bright and early tomorrow morning I will be running a 10K for a really great cause. My nephew, Xavier, has autism and I can't be more excited to be a part of this run. I hemmed and hawed over the course of a couple weeks on the decision of running the 5 or the 10. Chances are I will PR either distance as I have been tirelessly training for the Equinox. I wanted to run the 5K but was not sure if I would hit that number I posted last fall at the YMCA Heart of Savannah 5K.(26:58) I started thinking about the 10K knowing that i should be able to beat the 1:02:39 time I posted in December for the Savannah River Bridge Run. "Thomas, you will blow away your 5K time, run the 5!...Yeah, but you are training for a marathon, better benefit from running the 10 AND you will certainly kill the 10K time too! Remember you posted that 1:02 while going over the bridge, twice!" This debate went on for hours...."It's a cop out to run the 5, you are being lazy.....If Everyone runs the 10, maybe you can place in your age group running the 5...etc. etc.etc.
Let's get one thing straight....as a 34 year old, running 9-10 minute miles, I have NO chance at placing in my age group...unless they shut the bridge down right after I cross it and noboy shows up for the race.....
As a prerace work out this week, I decided to do a nice 5 mile run on Tuesday and some speedwork last night? Speedwork?!? As I sit here with legs that feel like lead sinkers for a really giant fishing rod, I question my desicion to run the track last night.
I haven't really done speed work ever...back in the day I played soccer 2-3 times a week, that was my speedwork. We did intervals in college. I liked it okay, running around the track was never my thing.
Last night I went to the track and warmed up with a "easy" mile. After lap one I found my self being paced by a guy running in lane 6. LOL, he would pull ahead in the straights and I would catch him in the turns. So then I decided to not let him catch me in the straights. I think he caught on because he started running harder too. Needless to say, my easy mile turned out to be a 9:39...which is a little faster than I normally run "easy"...good ego boost though.
Decided on 4 x400 at 9 minute pace or less. I really didn't know what I was capable of, in hindsight I set the bar too low.
lap 1 - 2:10, cool, that wasn't too hard!
lap 2 - 2:07...wow, is this really happening?
lap 3 - 2:04...shut my mouth did I just cruise that lap at a 8:16 pace? Can I go sub 2 for my last lap?
lap - 1:55...quickly calculating a 7:40 pace...did a little happy dance at the track, good thing everyone was gone by then....
So, looking back, I am capable of much more in regards to speedwork. The question is how much more?
My legs are heavy today. I am sure they will be fine in the morning...plus its race day!
I will update my race results over the weekend, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.
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Now you see why speedwork builds endurance. You really feel the results of those intervals at the end of a very long race. Trust me.
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