Tempo Run 3/15/07

They say that the definition of "crazy" is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, what if you do the same thing over and over again and you DO get different results? If you're not crazy, then what are you? I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty freaking happy, actually...

This morning was another tempo run. It seems that when this workout was scheduled once a month, lots of people would skip the workout. I, myself, am guilty of this on occassion. Now, Coach has them now scheduled every two weeks in order to get more people there on a regular basis. They used to scare me because it really feels like a race morning. You line up in formation and hit the watches all together and then proceed to shoot out of a cannon and attempt to keep up the tempo pace for four miles.

Today, it was four miles in the dark, wet trail and fog, adding to the apprehension that we all already felt on tempo day.

As per usual, we did a 1 mile warm-up jog, followed by our usual drill set. During drills, I decided to take an Enervitene shot to see what would happen during the tempo. Nothing like a morning experiment.

The "gun" went off (Gilbert said "go") and I immediately tried to maintain a "comfortable" pace with Liliana and Erin. I don't know Erin at all, but this was obviously her first tempo. I've seen her on the track and she's pretty damn fast. A half-mile into the tempo, she said, "So, do you just run fast for the entire four miles?" Without missing a beat, both Liliana and I were like, "Pretty Much." I thought about that comment for the rest of the run.

Overall, my energy level and breathing this morning were good. I hit the turn around point in 14:07, which meant I would have to negative split to go sub-28:00. That wasn't my original goal for the day, but I thought I had a good shot at it because I was still feeling pretty strong with only two miles two go. At the turnaround, I gained some distance on both Erin and Liliana and never saw them again. I just really tried to remain focused on my form, breathing and the two-inch visibility I had in front of me. Even during Mile 3 to 4, I still didn't feel as wasted as usual. I was "hanging on," but it wasn't for dear life. I still had a little gas.

I turned on the final stretch and truly gave it all I had. I crossed the finish line and looked at my watch--28:03! Damn!!! I also looked at the Distance on my Garmin...It measured the course at 4.19 miles, which is almost a 1/4 mile longer than 4 miles!
Needless to say, I was thrilled with the unexpected jolt and I owe some credit to the Enervitene. I was feeling sore and "beat up" from previous workouts this week, but it was amazing that the pain goes away when you start pushing it. By the end, I was feeling my heartbeat in my hair. Is that a good thing??

Here are my mileage breakouts:

Mile 1: 6:58
Mile 2: 6:09
Mile 3: 6:51 (I'm thinking something happened between 2 and 3 and the true mile time is an avg. of both. I know I didn't run a 6:09 min mile)
Mile 4: 6:51
Mile .19: 6:14 pace (I really did pick it up at the end)

Total: 4.19 miles
Time: 28:03
Avg pace: 6:41 per mile

I'll take that anyday.