Monday, January 21, 2013

A Slog, a Sprint

Ever have one of those runs that feels like a total slog, but then it turns out to be your fastest pace of the year? That was Saturday's 30-minute fartlek.

The faster I go, with these timed runs, the farther I go. (No duh, said the Internet.) My pace over 3.2 miles was a good 25 seconds per mile faster than my next fastest effort this year. But, boy, did I feel ragged. I couldn't find a rhythm with my lightpole intervals. Pushing the pace felt like a death march.

The nice thing about these runs, however, is that I get to see marked improvement from run to run. My goal is to get to four miles in 30 minutes. I've never been that fast outside of a race, so it's a tough order. It's something to shoot for at any rate.

The weather has turned quite frigid in Northeast Ohio. Despite temperatures in the 50s during Saturday's outing, the biting wind called for long sleeves, hat and gloves. This week is supposed to be in the teens with a wind chill advisory that's supposed to bring the perceived temperature down below zero. That should be fun.

Happy Monday, teammates ...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a fan of the biting wind. Kudos to you for getting out there and surpassing your fastest time to date.

Robin said...

Wow - 4 miles in 30 minutes?! Impressive goal especially in this weather. Spring racing should net you some awesome race times. I think I'll borrow your light pole fartlek method once the wind chill settles down.