Progress

This morning I ran my first successful tempo run of the summer. Each attempted tempo so far has ended prematurely, and has gotten progressively slower with each mile leading up to the infamous "plug pulling." One reason I've suspected for these awful performances has been a combination of over-estimation of fitness and going out way too hard. I have no business going out in 6:10 when my goal pace is 6:20, when I am not even in shape to run 6:20 pace for a tempo workout! The other reason I've suspected (with the help of my friends), is that I have been running on the track, where focusing on the constant splits are actually hurting me (psychologically) rather than helping me. This morning I set out to rectify both of these issues.

I started out with an easy 2 mile warm up to the Henken Softball Field parking lot, which is a perfect 1/2 mile circle. I told myself that no matter what, I would start out relaxed, and I vowed to make good on this. During the first 1/2 mile lap, I was feeling relaxed so I told myself "no checking the watch for the split." After the first mile, I decided to make the :no split checking" a rule for the entire run -- do it totally off of feel. I still clicked my splits on my watch, I just didn't look at them. I let my body dictate how hard I was running. I made an effort to keep the pace the same for the 2nd mile, and told myself that if I felt good, I would pick it up a bit for the last one (decided on a 3 mile tempo instead of the 4 mile i've been attempting). On the last mile, I decided only to pick it up for the last half. When I crossed the line and stopped my watch, I looked down to read 18:50, with my last mile in 6:02. My first mile had been 6:28, right where I wanted it, followed by a 6:19 2nd and 6:02 to close it out. Very pleased with that. It is nice to actually get faster over the course of a tempo instead of running backwards.

Over the last handful of runs, I've been feeling pretty good and relaxed. The runs are not terribly laboring, which is a sign that I am getting stronger. It's days like today that I really appreciate the body's ability to adapt and respond to training. In the beginning, you don't really see much progress -- instead, you feel fatigued, sore, and discouraged because it feels like the training isn't doing what its supposed to. But on days like today, you really begin to feel the fruits of the labor. You can feel that maybe you are getting that increase in mitochondrial density and that increased capillarization in the muscles. This is the feeling that you work for, and the feeling that motivates/catipults you into the real training that will crank up in approximately one month's time. I'm glad that I'm hitting that point right now, and feeling like I'm ready to throw down come August...