« ILT | Main | Good Day's Work »
July 21, 2006
Long Tempo
Today's workout entailed running a long tempo. Gwaghh... Yuck... Blarhh... Blekkky... I think I've said it before and I don't mind saying it again - I just do not like tempo runs. They require too much mental effort and focus, something I'm not incredibly good at. But I know, probably more than anything else, they help my running immensely and (if performed well) give me lots of confidence.
Today's tempo was 30 minutes long. I wasn't pleased when I saw it on my schedule from Coach J but given the fact that I have an Olympic Distance triathlon coming up in 3 weeks (which involves a 10K run at the end), I need to run something more than 5x2 minutes hard!
When I got home from work today I wasn't too motivated to get out the door for said 30 minute tempo. Luckily O agreed to go to the trail with me and walk Roxy while I ran and he was on a tight schedule since he has a softball game tonight. That forced me to get changed and kick it into high gear. Thank goodness for him - otherwise I might still be laying on the floor wondering when exactly I was going to do my tempo... ;)
Also in my favor today was some cooler temps. It was only in the low 80s when we left and because it had just rained it felt a lot less humid. I was still soaked when I was done but it felt better than the usual I-could-slice-the-air-it's-so-thick feeling.
Anyway, we drove to the trail and I started off with a 10 minute warmup. Roxy and O joined me for this. I felt a little tired when we started but nothing too bad. I think my quads probably take the biggest hit between cycling and running. Thankfully I don't seem to use them too much when I swim. Either way, they were feeling the most tired.
After 10 minutes easy I started off on my 30 minute tempo. Thankfully I know my running self pretty well and was able to pick a pace that I thought was challenging but sustainable over the next 4 to 4.5 miles. I should mention that part of this workout was HR related - 10 minutes into the tempo I was to hit my "lap" button on my heart rate monitor so that I could capture my average HR during the last 20 minutes of the tempo. Not too sure what I'm going to do with that number yet but it somehow determines how I train otherwise. I've got a lot to learn.
When I started the tempo I was pretty pleased with how strong I felt. I was hoping to average 7:15 miles but I timed my first true mile in 7:00. The next mile clicked by in 6:58 and the final mile I timed was in 6:52. Honestly, I was thrilled. I really want to be able to run my 10K in my Oly distance tri in 45-46 minutes and after today's tempo I thought it may just be possible. No telling what might happen on race day (aka - I never get to the run because they have to pull me out of the Allegheny River) but today's workout gave me the confidence I probably needed.
So that was that. I cooled down for another 5 minutes for 45 minutes total and 6 miles exactly. I'll take it.
Tomorrow's workout involves a team ride with the Trizilla group and then a swim (with a 1000 meter time trial) afterwards. I better eat my Wheaties tomorrow morning! I got hammered the last time I did a team ride. They are worse than races! Some of the guys will be away tomorrow for a race though so I'm hoping, hoping, hoping the pace may be just a touch easier. One can always hope right?! :)
Hope everyone has a great start to their weekends!
Posted by beth at July 21, 2006 8:09 PM