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March 28, 2007
31:12 . . . Not Quite the Shuffle I Was Anticipating
So after taking a vacation from running for 4 months, I picked it back up toward the end of November, and with my rekindled relationship, I decided to treat my long time friend with a new respect (kind of). For the first time in my life, I adopted a "I really don't give a sh*t what happens" attitude; I allowed myself to rediscover and re-light the fire for running that I felt the first time I turned a track - pig tails flying in the wind - at the age of 7. I don't know why now or what exactly triggered this, but it's about time! I never lost my passion for running, but I definitely took it too seriously at times and I beat myself up a little bit too much for unmet goals. For years I have felt that I am capable of running much better than my race times confessed . . .
I've been all over the map in terms of training too. I have run anywhere from 20 - 75 miles/week, but I usually keep it steady around 50. Since November, I have hugged 50 once, but I have been content to hang out with the 30s. I have not run one 7 day cycle - I am lucky to log 3-5 days/week with an occassional 6 day cycle :) The most pronounced difference (other than the fact that I feel like I am getting old!) is that I have been running with my friend Howard and a few other people. We are all over the place in terms of our abilities, but we keep it fun and we always warm up and cool down as a group . . . there are about 6-7 of us who meet regularly and I feel like we have our own little team. So the most consistent thing about my running has been the introduction of 1-2 workouts/week. I won't dive into my running history, but I have never been a consistent fast runner. I kind of like jogging.
We do a lot of endurance work and recently we started to do half mile repeats. My times have been anywhere from 2:59 - 3:12 (depending on the workout and the number of reps) so I had absolutely NO idea what to expect at this year's Shamrock Shuffle 8K. My primary goal was to have a blast and run as comfortably hard as I could for as long as I could.
I flew through the first mile in 6:04 and immediately pulled back because I didn't think there was a chance in hell I could sustain that pace. The scary thing was that it felt good, easy, and comfortable! I missed the 2 mile mark, but I hit 3 in 18:37. Since I am incapable of doing math while running, I didn't try to figure out my pace. But I knew I was running well because I don't recall ever running through mile 3 under 19 minutes in a race that wasn't a 5K. I hit 4 in 25:01 and it kind of hit me then that I was going to run a PR. Mile 5 rolled by in 31:12 and I had a new PR. 6:16 pace. I have never come close to that in my life for an 8K. I think my last PR was something like 32:51. Needless to say, I am quite giddy and excited!
My goal now is to survive the final few weeks of school, look for a teaching job, and KEEP RUNNING. I'd like to do a half in June.
I hope all are well and happy!
Posted by bridget at March 28, 2007 12:10 PM
Comments
Welcome back Bridget! Congratulations on your new PR!
Posted by: Caitlin at March 28, 2007 5:31 PM
... she's back! Did she ever really go away? :-)Great to read, wonderful 8K...
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at March 29, 2007 7:12 AM
Hi Bridget, nice to read your post again. Sounds like you continue to be swamped! Sometimes when running is not our priority we do better ironically. As runners we can put so much pressure on ourselves. Your recent 8k was great and your weekly social runs sound perfect especially when you are so busy. Good Luck this spring trying to find a job and keep up the fun runs. Congrats!
Posted by: mary at March 29, 2007 9:02 AM
BRIDGET!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: katie w at March 30, 2007 3:37 PM
Welcome back :) Great job in the shuffle!!
Posted by: barb at April 2, 2007 3:00 PM