Early on in the week I checked my running schedule. I saw the workout scheduled for Thursday:
3 miles at easy + 20 min at Tempo + 2 miles at easy
It didn't look that hard and since I was busy after work I decided I would run in the morning. It has been a long time since I had done a morning run. Although I love running with a group, I missed the quiet, dark mornings when I would run all alone.
The temperature was 39F feels like 34F and I had no idea how to dress so of course I over-dressed for the run. I headed out at 5am and forgot my headlamp and it was dark. This was my third day in a row of running and my legs were stiff and not quite awake.
The first few miles ticked by and I thought I was going along at a good pace but I couldn't see my garmin in the dark. I finally remembered how to light up the screen and saw the pace - 9:20/mi. I guess my legs were not awake at all - I tired to pick up the pace a bit so that the tempo portion would not be such a shock!
Finally the 3 miles were up and it was time to go. Speeding up was not easy and I could not get below a 7:30 pace even though 7:30 pace was my goal. It was a constant battle to just keep my pace in the 7:30s range. I couldn't help but think about Tuesdays workout where this same pace has felt so easy!
As I ran the tempo, the darkness began to fade as dawn neared and by the end of my run it was bright and sunny! That almost made up for the fact that this run totally kicked my butt. Who knew a pre-dawn tempo run could be so hard even after a longer warm up?!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I find it a lot harder to hit that tempo pace in the morning, especially when you haven't been running in the morning. I did enjoy the dark, quiet streets though. :)
Nice job!!
ahh I totally feel your pain! Sometimes morning tempos are just blah! especially if you haven't run in the morning for a while. I wouldn't worry about it - I bet that pace will feel easy next time!
Some days are like that, unfortunately! But you still got your pace and you still benefited from the run, so good for you!
ugh to tempos in general! great job getting it down and staying within range of your target pace. i think the hardest part of tempos is going from warm up to FAST. ick.
Nice job getting it done girl!
The differences day to day with running really get me frustrated. Sometimes I can push through them and other times, not so much. I know a running journal would be good for me, but I think I might try to incorporate that into my blog.
Sometimes I feel like it's so hard to get my body moving early in the morning. My brain is there, but my legs still want to sleep.
Post a Comment