Ate Something

Well the title is a bit misleading. I did some intervals today a half mile of speed with a half mile recovery over 3.65 miles.

The Up portions were: 8:55 pace, 9:22 pace, 9:02 pace and 9:35 pace (for the last .15). The down portions were also encouraging at 11:34, 11:22, 11:21 and 10:53. I think this a nice result. I was quite happy with the 8:55 pace for the first speedy half mile.

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In other news, I have been going to my martial arts classes but I have been in a funk. I have been a bit more tentative than I usually am. I believe this all started a number of weeks back when I caught a training partner with an elbow under the chin. That was the intended target I just didn't intent to strike the man. I like to pride myself on control and when I hit someone I like to mean it. So I think when I hit someone without the intention of doing so, it bothered me. Rationally, I know things happen; however, it did get to me anyway and made my training less enjoyable. I think that I can try to overcome this mental block a bit now that I know what it is. More mind games, it is unfortunate that my own subconscious was plotting against me.

Last Run Before the Half Marathon

I think that having a good run before an event is pretty important. For me it sets my mood in the right spot before the event and helps me to get upbeat about the race. This morning was the last run before the event. It was nothing most people would write home about but for me it put me in the right spot mentally.

3.25 Miles, 34:58 time, 10:27 pace

I started the first mile a bit slow for the first .3 and then found my speed and maintained about a 10:15 to 10:25 pace the rest of the way. I did not feel like I was pushing and it was just a nice natural but quick run. Well quick for me.

So as one of my co-workers is fond of saying, I got my mind right. Now I can rest until Sunday morning and then race. I am looking forward to it.

Goals are made to be broken, not merely met

I have been thinking on the mental aspects of running quite a lot as of late. I had convinced myself early on that I would be slow and I think I accepted that for quite some time. There is nothing wrong with running slow, but there is nothing wrong with running faster either. For the past couple of weeks I have trying to push my limits in terms of speed. I am trying to break my mental block in terms of speed and become a faster runner. I don't want to break any records, I just want to get closer to my potential.

Tonight was my fastest 5 mile run, I want to say ever but it really is since I returned to running. A small aside, I used to run a 6:30 minute pace when I was in the military. But at that time I weighed a good deal less and I was much younger. But for now this was fast. The time was 53:27, this translates into a 10:41 pace for the entire thing. The other part of that that is impressive for me is that only one mile was more than 11:00. It looked like this:

1 - 10:40
2 - 10:17
3 - 10:31
4 - 11:03
5 - 10:55

I will admit that I had to push to maintain this speed. Mile 4 was an uphill or I think that I would have broken the 11:00 barrier on this mile as well. I just knew that I could do it and just pushed through all the baggage I have carried related to speed. I kept at it, there was pain and I focused through it. Running fast(er) carries a certain amount of discomfort, there will be more of this before there is comfort. But I am overcoming the next barrier.

The first barrier was the motivation to just get out and do it, the barrier after this one was overcoming injuries, and this barrier is breaking preconceived notions about what type of runner I am. I this mental side of my running will need some real effort and constant attention.

I have found the other side of 11:00, lets see what happens next. For now, I will focus on maintaining this for longer runs. I'll let you know what goal I intend to break next. For now, lets just say sub 11:00 pace for 7 miles; wish me good fortune.