No Snow – just another solid tempo run
The weatherman was predicting snow to hit Charlotte this morning. Running in snow is okay. Running a tempo in the snow is well, not something that I like doing.
Fortunately, the weatherman was only partially correct and the falling snow was just enough to enjoy.
Normally, my tempos have been run on a rolling hill course, but today, I ventured across Charlotte to the McAlpine Greenway. I figured I had better start enjoying it before they lay down that long black strip of asphalt.
Megan came out to join me. We headed out for mile warm up from Old Bell and then circled back so that we could start our 8 mile tempo from Old Bell.
Going with only a mile warm up is tough for me. My body needs the extra miles to get the blood flowing. Thus, the first couple of miles I felt like couldn't get enough oxygen into my lungs.
Then around 2 miles things started simmer down. My breathing settled down and I was finally able to relax and feel smooth. The bridge heading toward Margret Wallace was a little tricky. Snow covered boards are pretty slick so I ended up tip toeing across.
We made the turn along Harris Blvd and head back. Margret Wallace was clear of traffic. The bridge boards hadn't changed. Megan said that she was going to stay with me for another mile, but she kept hanging on. Tough girl.
Checking my heart rate with a mile to go, I still had about 10 beats to give. Even thou, my legs felt died and my arm felt like they were tying up, I tried to push through it.
We closed off the 1st 4 miles in about 25 minutes and the 2nd 4 miles in a little over 24 minutes.
It was a nice effort and I felt solid but tired at the end.
I will have to school Megan one thing. Don't read out the splits to me. I let my heart rate and breathing dictate the difficult of the effort. I only bring the Garmin along to tell me how I did afterwards. I do it this way so I never attempt a workout that is over my head or to put it another way – beyond my current conditioning "says the teacher to the grasshopper" LOL
Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner
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