Back in the Saddle

Tuesday's report: good run

So that's #1.  After Sunday's collapse -- and no run on Monday -- I scheduled a long tempo run and was anxious to see how things would go.  And it went well.  I'm a little sore today, but not bad.

I chose Lake Miramar (again) for my run.  Lake Miramar's become a favorite for me.  For one thing, Quin likes to go with me and ride his bike.  He's such an indoor kid, I like to encourage every and any opportunity to get him outside and be active.  Plus, he's a good pacer and water caddy.  It lets him participate in my workout without having to work too hard.  In fact, it winds up being a leisurely outing for him since he just cruises along on his Electra Rat Rod (which he's almost grown too big for).

I like Lake Miramar because it is a well-marked route with 1/4 mile markers that help me gauge my pace and progress.  Since I don't have a snazzy GPS watch, I'm reliant on my basic Timex for time and my knowledge of distances to figure out my pace.  I still don't have a bead on pacing, especially since my subjective assessment changes as I become more fatigued.  Treadmills and oval tracks are okay, but boring.  Lake Miramar is a loop, and after a while I suppose it could get tedious too, but for now it's a nice, semi-secluded running track.  It'd be even better if it was a trail.

I ran the first two miles at my goal marathon race pace of 8:30 (slightly faster, actually, finishing the two miles in 16:18).  I ran the next two miles at a tempo pace of 7:30.  The next mile was a recovery interval, back to an 8:30 pace.

Then it started to get tough.  I did another two miles at 7:30 again, though I boosted the pace unintentionally, making it harder.  One of those miles was a 7:00 mile.  Another recovery 8:30 mile, and then a closing tempo (7:30/mile) two miles, for a total of 10 miles.

The last two tempo segments were a little more than "comfortably hard" but I'm glad I did them.   I needed the confidence boost.

Tomorrow, and easy day and Thursday, another 10 miles or so, but not as hard, other than some hills ("speedwork in disguise").