December 9, 2007

Sunday, December 9, 2007
Scheduled 8 miler, same route as last week. 20 degrees, calm, partly cloudy. I took it easy most of the day and took off at about 2:45. Nice running conditions. Though I thought I went through a thorough stretch, by the first trough in the road, during the first mile, I sensed trouble. The first mile is mostly downhill (it loses 110 feet over the first .8 miles). Going as slowly as I could, and still call it running, I was gasping for air, wheezing like an asthmatic. First mile, downhill, 9:31, I feel like dogshit. I figure today is a good day to bail at 2 miles. No problem; I’m not compulsive, and if I need the rest I need the rest. The HR is only 143 going up the hill, so I concentrate on maintaining a quick tempo and keeping the breathing rate 3/2 uphill and 3/3 on the downhills. There are no level sections. I felt better by the 2 mile mark and decided to go on to 3, especially since all the really long, killer hills are in the first 2.3 miles, the 1.7 after that are short, fairly gentle rollers (after that there is 2.5 mile mountain climb that gains something like 900 feet, fun spring running, no doubt). I kept it nice and easy, and of course once I hit the 3 mile mark why not finish the damn run, right? Turned around right around 38 minutes, and I thought no matter how tired I am, I can sure as hell run a negative split off that. It seems most of my fatigue is mental and respiratory; as long as I thought strong thoughts and kept things together mechanically, I felt pretty darn good. No aches or pains at all in the legs either, not during nor after. Let’s hear three loud power claps and big Hoo-Rah!
9:31, 9:11, 9:22, 9:58 (38:02 out), 9:13, 9:43, 7:46, 9:43 (36:24 in) (1:14:26) 9:18 pace
Wicked slow, but I like the fact that I felt stronger later on in the run. The last two miles were faster than last week.
Hacked my lungs out for 10 minutes immediately upon finishing.