Monday, November 8, 2010

1.12 miles in 7'40"

it's been a long time since i tested my heart and lungs like this. i set out to see how much faster i could run my one mile test route than i did the first time way back on september 3. my time then was 7'52" over the same 1.12 mile route. i desperately wanted to beat that time.

the first half of this run was all out. i ran north and then west and hit the "halfway" mark way ahead of my first attempt. i was about a block down the road to the south when i hit 3'36", my previous halfway PR. that's also when the wind fighting against me and my early effort conspired together to slow me down. i kept going, but had to back off the tiniest bit or i'd start puking. i know what that feels like. trust me. i'm not going there unless it's do or die.

as i rounded the corner and headed east on walnut i was able to pick up speed again. i hovered around my redline, but didn't push myself over the edge. i cleared one mile somewhere along walnut and kept going. i turned north on pine and ran for all i was worth to the finish line at pine and vine. i stopped the clock and knew i'd done it. i took twelve seconds off my previous time. that gave a 6'50" pace, my first sub-7 pace since i started running. i knew a sub-7 mile was possible. it just seemed a long time in coming.

now all i have to figure out is how to run that fast over more miles. i am dead. at the end of this circuit i couldn't have run another mile if i wanted to. i guess i'll just keep working at it.

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