New PR

Tonight was going to be one of those write-off nights. The ones where you plan on having a killer workout and then it slowly evolves into a 20 min walk on the treadmill, if that. I was determined to not let the cardio slide, even though the plan for weights did.

I chose to do 0.25 mile repeats: 1/4 mile easy (5.7-6.0 mph) and 1/4 mile goal pace (7 mph), until I reached 3 miles. It's not an all-out kill-me-now sprint, but it's a pace I want to maintain one of these days and I want to build up to it the way I always do... starting out 50/50 with goal/easy, then eventually making that 75/25, 80/20, 90/10... you see the picture. By the end of the first mile, I still had a full tank of gas and felt like I had been only running for a few minutes. That's because I HAD only been running for a few minutes. I was averaging a 9:40 pace out of the gate. With a goal of mine being negative splits, I figured there was no time like the present to start it. I upped my easy pace from 5.7 mph to 6.0 mph for mile 2. At the end of the mile, I had this surge of excitement; I knew that I was on track to a new training PR. I held the 6.0 mph easy pace, and added another 0.2 mph to my original 7.0 mph tempo. I also cut my easy period to 0.20 miles instead of 0.25 for an extra kick. I sprinted my legs off and at 2.8, slowed down to my easy speed for the last 0.2 miles. Knowing how close I was to the end, at 2.9 I upped the speed to a very fast (for me) 8.0 mph and went all out for that last 0.10 miles. If I had done this only a few seconds earlier, I would've ran 3 miles in 28:00, but I am still EXTREMELY pleased with my new time of 28:10. This is an incredible pace for me... I didn't know I was capable of running ONE mile at that pace, forget 3. I am so proud of myself and I know that if I only had one mile to run, I could EASILY get it into the 8:00s. Progress!!

Also, I hate IT band rollers. They are so awkward and boy do they freaking HURT on a tight IT band. They are a necessarily evil, but I still wish I remained that naive runner I was a few years ago when I'd peruse forums and see all these poor people complaining about IT band injuries. It seemed so common, yet I had no idea where it was. Let me just say, I know now.

Tomorrow is an easy x-training day. Planning for a 30 min row at the gym at work tomorrow, though I have a bocce game so it may have to wait until the evening. We'll see if I can drag my butt into work 15-30 min earlier tomorrow to give myself that extra time.

Night! x