Day 157, 208 To Go

June 6, 2013

Time for a hard run today.  Actually, I normally do not plan the day I will run hard, I just go by feel.  Today, I felt good and I had Honey cruising on her Rollerblades to encourage me.  She took to the job with an annoying fervor.  I say annoying because when you are panting and sweating and close to vomiting, someone screaming at you to go faster is as desirable as herpes on a first date.  On the other hand, it really did help me push hard.

I started out running easy and Honey wanted to know if I was going to run fast.  I figured I felt ok and that I could pick up the pace.  My first mile was only an 8:11 pace.  I spent most of the mile looking at Honey's backside (not too shabby a way to spend an evening, if you ask me).  That would just not do.  So, I picked it up in my second mile.

Now, I had Honey falling behind more often than not.  It was like a race at this point!  I finished the 2nd mile with a 7:04 pace which was more than a minute per mile faster than my first mile.  Of course now, I was struggling a little.  Not too much that I couldn't keep on going and not too much that I couldn't pick it up a bit still.  Honey was harassing (aka, encouraging) me to go faster saying that she was right behind me and that she was catching up.

Luckily, I am competitive and I didn't decide to stick my leg out and send her flying through the air.  Seriously, I would never, ever do that.  Well, never say never I always say (except when I say never say never because you can't actually say that phrase if you never say never.  Got it?)  I'm sure Honey is more than capable of provoking me to try to kill her, so it is always possible, but at least today, I wouldn't do it, so she is safe.

As you can see from my numbers, I did 2.7 miles so I still have .7 miles to go and I wasn't done accelerating.  I pushed the last .7 miles at a 6:46 pace!  Now, I had Honey on the ropes.  She was getting tired (of rollerblading, not "encouraging" me...that she kept on doing).

I topped out at a 5:13 pace.  Now, I was struggling a lot at this point.  The thing that always gets me when I get to this pace is that professional marathoners will run the entire 26.2 miles at this pace.  What the fuck!  How is that even possible?  It must be magic.

Here are the numbers:

Time: 20:00

Distance: 2.70 miles

Pace: 7:24/m

Max Pace: 5:13/m

Calories: 347
Avg HR: 144

Max HR: 176

This was not my fastest run yet...that was 7:19...but I am confident I can top that.  I think, if I prepare, I can top 7:00!  That is going to be my goal this month.  I'll have to be warmed up a bit to do that, but I can and will!  Are you with me!  Yeah!  And I'm sure Honey will be with me screaming at me the whole time if I want any chance at doing it.  I will even promise not to trip her if (when) she gets on my nerves.  Promise!

Run for Life!!