February’s 1st tempo run

Workouts in January seemed like each and everyone was a struggle. My first workout in February felt the same way but the evidence says something else.

Yesterday, I headed out for my standard weekly tempo run. I have basically run the same course each week for the last 5 weeks.

I press the start button on my Garmin and head off. The first mile was entirely about getting the legs, arms, and heart warmed up and my head in the game.

Miles 2-9 were the tempo section. As I run my tempo, I ignore the pace displaying on my Garmin and focus entirely on feel and effort.

Here's the funny part, my first tempo back in January felt like I was pulling a truck up hill. My workout yesterday felt the same way.

The first 7 miles were rolling hills with a nice long climb at the end.

The first couple of miles were run 6:30. The next 3 miles were run at 6:01 pace. Miles 6 and 7 were 5:58 and 5:46 while mile 8 "the climbing mile" was run 6:10. I finished with a cool down mile back home. Total running time was 64 minutes for 10 miles

Honestly, effortwise, I couldn't tell that the pace was faster. To me, it hurt just as much.

But the best part is when I come back and download the statistics from my Garmin, I like what I am seeing. The miles are starting to be faster and the heart rate is staying down. This is exactly what I am expecting to have happen. All thou, both are not as fast or as low as I would like, they going in the right direction.

With few more months of training to go, things continue to look promising.

 

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner