Ugly Intervals and Pretty Tempo

I rested on Monday after Sunday's 20 miler. I had intended on getting to the gym for some weights and lunges, but cooking dinner became a bigger priority. And when I sat down to eat, I knew right away I wouldn't make it to the gym - I just wanted to make it to bed for some sleep. I did get a good nights rest, but I wasn't able to do my intervals Tuesday at 5 a.m. because J.T. had to be at work early again. So I did them during my lunch break on the road behind my office (I still haven't gotten the courage up to go back to the track for fear of running into a powder puff football game again~yikes!~ ). This meant it wouldn't be flat like the track and the wind was bad, but I did my best with them. The plan was 3 sets of 2x1200m w/2min rest intervals and 4min rest intervals between the sets. Target pace for each interval was 5:28. Results are as follows:
warmup mile:10:01
1. 5:44
2. 5:29
3. 5:33
4. 5:38
5. 5:45
6. 5:33
Cooldown mile: 9:45

I guess you can kindof tell that I was running against the wind on numbers 1,4, and 5...and with the wind on 2,3,and 6. All of them hurt. I guess nothing good comes easy though.

Wednesday morning I loaded up my bike and packed bag before leaving for work, intending on riding the Brinkley Hill route again. So on my lunch break I got my bike out and got it ready, and went to change clothes only to find I had packed everything but my shorts. Great. No way I'm riding Brinkley Hill in my khakis. So the only other option was the CTS Time Trial DVD at 7:00 p.m. that night. And it kicked my butt like it does every. single. time. Whew.

And on the plan for Thursday was a 10 mile tempo run at PMP (Planned Marathon Pace) which is 9:00 min/mile. The real goal for Vegas is to break 4 hours which would be about 9:09 per mile, but I am trying to keep my goal marathon pace at 9 min even just to give me a little room. This run had to be done at 5:30 a.m. or not at all, because there is not enough time on the lunch break for a 10 mile run, and Grey's Anatomy comes on tonight (the one and only TV show I watch). I just started watching GA this season, mainly to try and find an excuse for me to sit down and relax for atleast an hour. I am a busy body who sees no sense in wasting precious, otherwise productive time on ficticious television shows - or lame reality shows for that matter. When I watch tv it is normally for 1 of 3 reasons: 1)To catch the news, 2)To catch the latest ESPN scores and clips, or 3)To learn something, i.e., a documentary or something of intellectual value. BUT - I have made an exception for Grey. This is part of my "in my next 30 years..." resolution. It took me a couple of episodes to decide I could watch it, but I think I'm almost hooked. So every Thursday night I get all my housework done before 8 p.m., change into something comfy, pour a glass of wine and relax while watching GA. Although I do make a rare exception sometimes and fold laundry while watching it if my laundry room is stacked to ceiling. Whoa - I got way off subject there - back to the tempo run. So I forced myself out of bed at 5 a.m., got dressed and brushed my teeth, ate a chocolate GU with caffeine (it was good too!!) and set out down the highway. My first couple of miles were around 9:30, which was the plan. I didn't want to start out too fast that early in the morning. Plus, I was a little worried about my legs because they were still a little fatigued from the cycling last night. But they held up fine...I slowly picked up the pace from there on out, and ended up with 10 miles in 1:30:22 - a 9:02 pace - that's close enough to make me happy!! I did a lot of praying while running this morning - my uncle was having surgery to remove cancer from his throat this morning, my good friend Mary Beth's sister has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and one of my long time best friend's mother is going through chemotherapy now after having cancer removed from her colon. And another friend at church is going through a rough battle with cancer. It is scary. So I spent lots of miles praying for these folks instead of focusing on any petty fatigue I might have been feeling. My average HR was 162 and max HR was 183.