Wednesday, August 27, 2008

They've Gone to Plaid



Yeah, that's about how fast I was going.

Sometimes I forget the basic tenants of running. I'll get frustrated after an excruciatingly slow run during a back-off week, forgetting that a runner needs the recovery as much as the miles. But after nailing my speedwork a week ago, I was ready to crush that long run on Sunday. But alas, I needed to be slow.

I needed to be slow to get fast.

Or perhaps my body was used to its usual Tuesday track sessions.

Either way, I dropped the hammer on my 8-mile tempo run last night. Had I been running a 10K, I would have broken my recent PR with an 8:06 pace. This is a good omen as the Buckeye Half Marathon approaches, a race in which I hope to break one hour, 50 minutes.

As you brilliant mathematicians have already calculated, my pace was slightly faster than my goal half marathon race pace (8:24). That's faster than I've ever run that route by about nine minutes. Hell, my overall time (1:04:50) was faster than I think I've ever run 7 miles! (If my old online running log hadn't gone to Sucksville, I could tell you for sure. My new log only goes back to Feb. 25.)

Full disclosure: I must admit that I had some help on this run. At the start of the park path, I saw a man who, with all his gadgetry, looked more like Marvin, the android, than a runner. He was decked out, with his heart rate monitor strapped across his chest, an iPod on his arm, a Garmin on his wrist and there were various other protruding wires to which I can only guess.

He was stretching (or perhaps he was oiling his joints) when I started running. But I heard his footsteps and beeping (and whirring) behind me shortly after. I thought that maybe he was using me as his pacer. So I turned on the hyper drive and dropped him cold.

That first mile was rife with roadkill--that is, other runners whom I picked off one by one. The next time I saw Marvin was on the return trip. I had opened a half-mile gap between us. I'm sure all he saw was plaid.

10 comments:

S said...

Congrats on a fantastic run! You're going to do awesome on the half marathon. And now I have the urge to go watch spaceballs...

Aileen said...

I hate going slow too...well, slower than I already am. Nice job teaching the android a lesson.

Spike said...

great run and excellent pace. Perhaps you should get a plaid running shirt for your marathon.

Ian said...

I love the ludicrous speed tag.

Marcy said...

Sweetness! Ok was the dude at least hot? (I always have to ask :P) And don't worry, you can be secure in your manhood and say yes or no HAHAHA.

Adam Dunn said...

I'm hoping an authentic kilt will help me achieve ludicrous speed sooner than later. Does that count as a performance enhancer?

Jess said...

Haha way to smoke gadget dude!

Ms. V. said...

nice job!

C said...

Way to go there, speedy! Great movie reference too.

I can't believe I missed out on the Ohio bashing. Not that I can add anything of substance to the conversation since I've only ever seen highway 80/90. And if I held that against Ohio, I'd also have to do so for Illinois and Indiana.

Oh well, maybe next time.

tfh said...

You know what would be too good to be true, but truth is stranger than fiction and all that? If Marvin showed up at the starting line of your HM!

Nah, you don't need him. Nice run!