Turning the Corner...

The highlight of my training this past week was a remarkable 41:30 tempo run that I completed on Tuesday evening in the Mt. Washington and Pikesville neighborhoods. I was hoping to complete the workout on Gilman's track, as I am accustomed to running long tempos on tracks and tracking my mile splits to ensure that I maintain pace. However, driving to Gilman can be quite the ordeal after work, when the sun is already low in the sky even before I change into my running gear. Thus, I opted for a 40:00 tempo on a fairly flat course in the neighborhoods near my apartment. I've run many long tempo runs off of "feel," meaning I relied on my body, not slavishly checking 400 or 800 meter splits, to determine if I was in the proper zone, though I prefer the track where stop lights, traffic, and hills are not an issue.

My main aversion to running tempo runs entirely on feel is that I have no idea how far I've gone at any given point. During a bad tempo, when my legs are tight and I cannot get into a ryhthem, it is heartbreaking to look at my watch and realize that I have not gone very far or that I have, say, 15:00 of running left when I thought I only had 5:00. Thus, when I began the workout on Tuesday, I determined that I would not look at my watch until I had covered a significant distance, though this can be tricky in the haze of a tough workout. Throughout most of the run, I felt smooth, fast, and controlled; it was a good day indeed. Finally, after running for what seemed to be long duration, I knew that I had to look at watch to establish where I was in the workout and how much further I needed to run. I turned a corner onto a long, flat, straight stretch and slightly increased the pace, taking full advantage of the terrain and linear path. I glanced at my watch expecting to see that I had run for between 25:00 and 30:00. I was elated when the tiny digital screen revealed that I had been running this fast but relaxed pace for over 35:00 and therefore had less than a mile left. I continued to keep the pace controlled and within my tempo range, increasingly slightly the last few minutes, finishing in 41:30 and ensuring that I had covered over 7 miles. My overall pace is irrelevant, but I assume (and hope...) my average mile pace was between the high 5:30s and low 5:40s.

This was remarkable moment in my training because it marked an important progression in both physical and mental fitness. Throughout the run, I stayed relaxed and reflected on past successes - winning the Akron half marathon, a fast progression run in the same neighborhoods 10 weeks earlier - and I was not tormented by the demons of similar workouts gone awry. Thus, in future workouts, I need to practice putting myself in this same mindset that allowed me to complete this tempo so effortlessly.

Aside from this tempo and my Sunday long run, the week was uneventful in terms of running. In the week ahead, I plan to run a different tempo workout consisting of a 20:00 run at lactate threshold pace followed by a series of cruise intervals at approximately the same pace. After completing it, I'll explain my "tempo run" philosophy in more detail, as these workouts are the cornerstone of my entire training regimen and the key to fast races.


January 24 - 30
Sunday - 19.25 mile long run
Monday - 9 miles
Tuesday - 13 miles; 41:30 tempo followed by 6x32-second striders
Wednesday - 7.25 miles, recovery run
Thursday - 3.75 easy miles (AM); 8.5 miles (PM)
Friday - 9 miles, 4x1600 @ CV pace, 5:27, 5:24, 5:24, 5:20 (terrible workout)
Saturday - 3.5 miles (AM); 7.75 miles (PM)
Total Miles: 81 miles