Day Ninety Six - I AM THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE!!!
(Who lives in my apartment. The dead guy in the closet was pretty fast though.)
Last night we did the official test that I BS's on my own last week on the treadmill. 1 mile repeats, timed. Basically we warmed up to a start line, ran a mile wicked fast, did a recovery run of about .7 miles and repeated the process two more times. Good turnout from the Team and a nice warm night to run in.
I started off the first mile obscenely fast (by my un-quick standards). I was running with Drew, who is nursing a bum ankle. He told me that I would probably out-pace him, but I wasn't so sure, he looked pretty fast to me. About a quarter mile in I did break away a bit and started moving at a pretty good pace. I was convinced that I would never be able to keep it up and that I was doing some serious damage to my chances at consistency with the next two timed miles, but at some point I just said screw it and ran as hard as I could to see how I could do if I just went all out. I crossed the finish in a wheezing heap and was shocked to see that I had no only accomplished a sub seven minute mile (again, not so fast this one), but that I had actually bested my time from 6 weeks ago by 1:03. That's right kids. 6:34. My best time ever. By far. Last week on the treadmill the best time I had was 7:11, which was sort of BS because the machine MAKES you run that fast. I thought I would be lucky to be in that neighborhood, but 6:34 completely threw me for a loop. On the recovery run I could see the REALLY FAST people just about 100 yards ahead of me. I was shocked.
We got back to the start and everyone was still getting themselves situated. The coach asked us how the first one was and we chit chatted with her. She told us to go whenever we were ready and to time ourselves again, trying to keep the second lap within 10 seconds of the first. I let the super fast folks go first because I get competitive and didn't want to kill myself trying to keep up with them only to collapse at the half mile marker. After giving them a good 15 second head start I took off. I knew right away that I was off the pace I set on my first lap, but things still felt pretty good. I was even gaining ground on some of the advanced runners. I know I shouldn't pay attention to stuff like that (and I fear it will mess me up on race day - not that I'll be comparing myself to the pros or anything, just trying to keep up with the 9 minute milers if that isn't really my pace) but like I said, I'm competitive. And wracked with self doubt, actually, as I didn't want to pass one of them when the time came because I figured he was just pacing himself for his final kick that would leave me in the dust discouraged. Finally I just overtook him and tried to let it go and run MY mile, but I was very aware that I DIDN'T hear footsteps in the last 2/10 of the mile closing in from behind. Fighting half an urge to vomit for the first time since we started training, I looked down at the watch and saw 6:54. 20 seconds added. Damn. But still sub-7. I was cramping up in my side and my legs were feeling VERY heavy. I set a goal for myself to keep it under 7 for the 3rd mile, but I was prepared for a much slower mile with the way I was sucking wind and the knot in my left side.
Back to the start line and once again, I let the advanced crew take off ahead of me. I figured I would just give this one everything I had left, despite the fact that I was sure that wasn't much. I started and immediately felt very slow. I was ultra aware of how far I had to go and how short a distance I had covered for the first quarter mile. I was just trying to let my body take over and fortunately I kept the cramp somewhat at bay with my breathing. My thighs were really starting to sing on me, but I kept at it continually telling myself it was only a mile. I passed the same advanced runner for the second time which gave me a lift and started my kick too soon after misjudging the finish. I kept it up though and crossed with my arms pumping and breathing like a lunatic. I checked my time and it was 6:52, an actual improvement from mile 2.
I was completely wiped out. I walked a lot of the recovery back to where we had met at Bathesda and did my stretching, getting war stories from the rest of the team and telling my own. All in all it was a good night. I know that 6:34 was a ridiculous time that I would have a hard time replicating, but the fact that I kept the second and third mile in the same neighborhood AND under 7 minutes made me very proud. And thankful to the coaches for getting me here.
Unfortunately no fundraiser thank you's today...hopefully one or two tomorrow.
Thanks for reading...
DAY 96
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 5.1
TOTAL MILEAGE: 218.03
PS - Keep Jen in your thoughts as she fights off a nasty shin splint. She's working very hard and deserves to do so relatively pain free.
Last night we did the official test that I BS's on my own last week on the treadmill. 1 mile repeats, timed. Basically we warmed up to a start line, ran a mile wicked fast, did a recovery run of about .7 miles and repeated the process two more times. Good turnout from the Team and a nice warm night to run in.
I started off the first mile obscenely fast (by my un-quick standards). I was running with Drew, who is nursing a bum ankle. He told me that I would probably out-pace him, but I wasn't so sure, he looked pretty fast to me. About a quarter mile in I did break away a bit and started moving at a pretty good pace. I was convinced that I would never be able to keep it up and that I was doing some serious damage to my chances at consistency with the next two timed miles, but at some point I just said screw it and ran as hard as I could to see how I could do if I just went all out. I crossed the finish in a wheezing heap and was shocked to see that I had no only accomplished a sub seven minute mile (again, not so fast this one), but that I had actually bested my time from 6 weeks ago by 1:03. That's right kids. 6:34. My best time ever. By far. Last week on the treadmill the best time I had was 7:11, which was sort of BS because the machine MAKES you run that fast. I thought I would be lucky to be in that neighborhood, but 6:34 completely threw me for a loop. On the recovery run I could see the REALLY FAST people just about 100 yards ahead of me. I was shocked.
We got back to the start and everyone was still getting themselves situated. The coach asked us how the first one was and we chit chatted with her. She told us to go whenever we were ready and to time ourselves again, trying to keep the second lap within 10 seconds of the first. I let the super fast folks go first because I get competitive and didn't want to kill myself trying to keep up with them only to collapse at the half mile marker. After giving them a good 15 second head start I took off. I knew right away that I was off the pace I set on my first lap, but things still felt pretty good. I was even gaining ground on some of the advanced runners. I know I shouldn't pay attention to stuff like that (and I fear it will mess me up on race day - not that I'll be comparing myself to the pros or anything, just trying to keep up with the 9 minute milers if that isn't really my pace) but like I said, I'm competitive. And wracked with self doubt, actually, as I didn't want to pass one of them when the time came because I figured he was just pacing himself for his final kick that would leave me in the dust discouraged. Finally I just overtook him and tried to let it go and run MY mile, but I was very aware that I DIDN'T hear footsteps in the last 2/10 of the mile closing in from behind. Fighting half an urge to vomit for the first time since we started training, I looked down at the watch and saw 6:54. 20 seconds added. Damn. But still sub-7. I was cramping up in my side and my legs were feeling VERY heavy. I set a goal for myself to keep it under 7 for the 3rd mile, but I was prepared for a much slower mile with the way I was sucking wind and the knot in my left side.
Back to the start line and once again, I let the advanced crew take off ahead of me. I figured I would just give this one everything I had left, despite the fact that I was sure that wasn't much. I started and immediately felt very slow. I was ultra aware of how far I had to go and how short a distance I had covered for the first quarter mile. I was just trying to let my body take over and fortunately I kept the cramp somewhat at bay with my breathing. My thighs were really starting to sing on me, but I kept at it continually telling myself it was only a mile. I passed the same advanced runner for the second time which gave me a lift and started my kick too soon after misjudging the finish. I kept it up though and crossed with my arms pumping and breathing like a lunatic. I checked my time and it was 6:52, an actual improvement from mile 2.
I was completely wiped out. I walked a lot of the recovery back to where we had met at Bathesda and did my stretching, getting war stories from the rest of the team and telling my own. All in all it was a good night. I know that 6:34 was a ridiculous time that I would have a hard time replicating, but the fact that I kept the second and third mile in the same neighborhood AND under 7 minutes made me very proud. And thankful to the coaches for getting me here.
Unfortunately no fundraiser thank you's today...hopefully one or two tomorrow.
Thanks for reading...
DAY 96
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 5.1
TOTAL MILEAGE: 218.03
PS - Keep Jen in your thoughts as she fights off a nasty shin splint. She's working very hard and deserves to do so relatively pain free.
posted by Demps at 4:22 PM
1 Comments:
thank you demps! little bugger just HAS to go - maybe the power of collective thought will do the trick...
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