15 miles with a Predator thrown in

This morning I was out for the Miner's run for the first time in weeks. Rumors were a bound that the group was dwindling in numbers. However, there was a huge crowd out this morning. As I looked around, there was a regular "whose" "who" from the charlotte running community running down Sardis Rd just before dawn.

 

For my part, I was hanging in the back and trying to take things easy. My legs are not accustom to these morning adventures and pushing then too hard would only drop me in a hole soon than later.

 

This was doubly true because Mike, Megan, and I were doing an 8 mi warm up to be followed by a 5 mile Predator run, and finish it off with a 2 mile warm down.

 

Most everyone dropped off at the start of the McAlpine 5k course so they could start their 7 mile tempo. Mike, Megan, Ben D., and I stayed together for another 8 miles where Ben headed on since we were stopping for our tempo.

 

Yesterday, Mike and I were exchanging emails and had decided on making this a predator run.

 

Megan and I would have a 1 minute head start and Mike would be chasing.

 

So Megan and I headed out. Mike has been running really well and I was pretty determined to not let him catch me in the first mile.

 

With that mind, I had my heart rate up pretty high which was probably too high for this run.

 

At the mile turn, I still had a sizable lead, but Mike didn't seem too worried when we passed. I did my best to put on one of those "I can run this pace for 50 miles" "looks" even if I couldn't.

 

By the time, we made the turn at 3 miles, Mike was breathing down my neck. The effort to stay ahead of him pushed me a little too far across the red line.

 

Megan was also doing her part to add to my stress levels because she was just behind Mike.

 

At about 3.25 miles, Mike moved passed me and I tried to latch on him. Mainly, I wanted to stay with him as long as possible but also in hopes that he pull me away from Megan. Well, this idea didn't work out well for me at all. Mike soon dropped me and I started hearing footsteps from behind.

 

I had no plans to look because this is a dead giveaway that I was trouble.

 

The steps grew louder but by this time, we only had ¾ of mile left. If Megan was going to catch up to me, she would have to earn it today. LOL.

 

Mike had pulled away quite easily after passing me. He probably ran sub 30 minutes for run. I was 31:24 with Megan just a few seconds behind.

 

All in all, this workout definitely contributes to my efforts of moving in the right direction.

 

On a side note, next time Mike will need to give us at least a 90 second advantage.

 

In case you are interested; the point of predator run is that everyone should finish at roughly the same time with the slightly faster guys chasing the slower guys. Definitely, predator runs change the perspective of a workout and give the workout a lot more focus.

 

 

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner