We're about 1/3rd of the way through 2021. This years training has been going pretty well, as I continue to build on the base I built in 2020. At this point I've been running for about 2 years now, continually improving the whole time. So far, I've managed to do it without getting myself injured which I'm still amazed about. Sometimes I feel like I'm riding the cutting edge but I've tried to be conscious on how I'm feeling and take it easy when I need to.
Looking back to 2019 when I first was getting started you can see how cautious I was (a big divergence from my 4 month couch to Marathon stunt I pulled in 2009 that ultimately wrecked me). If you add up the mileage from April and May of 2019 it winds up equaling just about the same amount of mileage as I ran last week... I remember how sore I used to be back then too. My calves were always tight and my shins ached for the first 6 months. At the time, anything under 8 min pace was tempo and 7:17 was 5K pace.
All this build up leading to today, where I had a bit of a breakthrough run that also meets my current, arbitrary requirements for a run of the year (needs to be fast and at least 8 miles in length).
It was a bit hot and humid for the year at 66 degrees an 99% humidity. A little hotter than ideal but not terrible either, in fact I wound up getting a good, purifying, sweat going and my leg muscles were happy that they didn't have to warm up. The air was thick with moisture and I could feel it as I breathed.
I started out at a good pace, running by feel and not quite knowing what to expect. By the time I was up the first climb to the .5 mile mark I could tell the pace was going to be fast. I was going at a sub 6:40 pace and feeling pretty good; my legs, fresher than they've felt in a while. I hit that first mile split at 6:35. I didn't see this as sustainable but I figured I'd hold on as long as I felt good. I ran the rolling hills of the 2nd mile focusing on staying relaxed and hit the 2nd mile in 6:33. The third mile had a few steep hills. I shortened up my stride and focused on working my arms. I could feel in in my legs and my HR climbed but I held pace at 6:35. Mile 4 was unremarkable as I focused on maintaining pace while staying relaxed to the halfway point, splitting at 6:37. Mile 5 is when I really started to hurt as my HR reached the high 160s. 167/168 seems to be the point where the effort really kicks in. I was running into the wind at this point and while it wasn't that windy it was enough to effect my efforts with my pace slipping to 6:43. Mile 6 started with a long steep climb. I focused on my form and powered through. At this point I was hurting and I fought to maintain the effort level as the pace slowed a bit. I finished mile 6 with my slowest split of 6:48.
With 2 miles left I was in the home stretch and I bore down some more. Doing the mental math I knew I had to keep the pace at 6:45 or faster for the last 2 to keep the overall pace under 6:40. I was able to pick it up a bit over mile 7 hitting it in 6:42. The last mile I was starting to feel it in my lower back and I could tell my form was going to shit. I tried to stand tall and keep it together, knowing that I only had a mile to go. With .5 left I was picking up the pace again and ultimately finished with my fastest mile of the day (slightly) at 6:32.
Final Stats:
8.0 miles
53:07
6:38 average pace
Getting into the 6:3X for a training run was one of my goals for the year so I'm pumped to have hit it. I figured it was attainable but considering my pervious fastest 8 miler was at 6:51 pace, this was quite a jump. Lots of extra mileage and a few tempo runs, plus the weather I guess. Best part of it all was that my stomach didn't cramp up or bother me for the rest of the day.
I more or less peaked last May and then held steady through summer (though hard to know for sure due to the heat). 33 days til my 10K goal race. Hopefully I keep improving through May. I was previously planning on stepping back the mileage and increasing the quality, but the last few runs I've had have been hitting major performance milestones (either in how fast I've gone or how low my HR is on easy days) which make me think that a couple more high mileage weeks might serve me better.
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