Thursday 8.30.12

I have been dealing with a mild sense of dread for this Thursday run since Jeff sent me the plan for the week.  He originally wanted me to hold 8 minute mile pace for 4 consecutive miles bookended by a warmup and cool down mile.  I knew this would be painful and kept going over routes in my mind to make this somewhat possible.  The days are ticking down to the race.  It is less than 60 days out and I get this feeling sometimes after a hard workout that going 70.3 miles is not going to be possible.  I am working through some mental hurdles right now between the possible and what seems to not be possible.  My daughter heading to college has my emotions a little mixed up too.  Complicated right now.  I decided to take a route that is a little more than 6 miles through Coppell that I use on a regular basis.  Miles 2 and 3 are littered with hills.  Mile 4 is mostly down hill and Mile 5 and 6 are pretty flat.  I knew the first two fast miles after the warm up would tell the tale.  Jeff wanted me to be consistent, even if the time were higher than 8 minutes.  I ran the warm up mile and was very conservative.  I knew what lied ahead.  My watch went off and I cranked up the pace.  The first half mile was pretty flat before turning the corner on Sandy Lake and I was doing pretty good.  Hit the first hill and maintained pace.  Topping the hill was a relief and I looked at my watch.  It said I was on about 8:40 pace from memory.  Ok, let's go.  Hit another hill and my watch went off at the mile mark.  Looked down and it read 8:39.  Time to keep moving.  The 2nd fast mile is the hardest with quite a few ups and downs.  I really didn't feel too bad but the hills were stealing time from my pace.  Watch went off and it said 8:43.  Very acceptable considering the hills.  The 3rd mile had a decieving up hill that I had forgot about and then it was a fairly fast downhill on Denton Tap.  I knew my time was pretty good but didn't push too hard knowing there was another mile ahead of me.  Watch went off and it said 8:23.  I knew what this pace felt like and did my best to hold it.  I have run this route hundreds of times now and I know exactly when my watch was going to go off.  Make it to the wooden bridge is all I kept saying to myself.  My form was fading but I kept the speed up.  Finally, my watch went off and it said 8:26.  I actually walked for a few yards to get my breathe back and picked up a slow jog.  I don't know why I doubt myself when it comes to running.  It definitely hurts more than the other two disciplines.  My arthritis makes it infinitely harder.  So in the end, I felt real good about the Thursday run today.  Nice surprise.

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