It was a typical night here in the Pacific Northwest; the sun was down, yet the heat still radiated the crisp air. There were some clouds out, but one could still see stars trying to shine through the night sky. As I walked outside to my car, I quickly realized that I didn't wanna run on the treadmill. After all, it's boring, plain, simple... did I mention boring? I turned back around, took off my shirt and sweat pants, turned on my sister's Ipod, and casually made my way to the end of my driveway. I didn't know it then, but in fifty short minutes, I would have one of the best runs I have ever done in my life.
I have recently been running for time (minutes) rather than distance; not exactly sure why I made the switch, but so far it's been paying its dividends. I made the decision to run for fifty minutes, knowing that I would run around seven miles if I kepy a good, solid pace. I start the run by heading out of my neighborhood (It's 1km from the entrance of my neighborhood to my house), and heading down 110th. I hit the first mile right at 7:15, feeling smooth and comfortable. As I make my way to the end of the street, I know that it is 1.78 from my house. I quickly glance at my watch, 12:39, still feeling good.
I turn onto our main road at 16:04, at which point I am not sure how many miles I have gone, but I was confident that it was more than two miles. I ran down the main road until I came up to a hill on my right side. I have ran up the hill before, a hill which nearly killed me back when I was a sophomore (and out of shape), but today I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem. I cruised up the hill and tried to maintain a quick cadence going up the hill. I quickly glanced my watch at the top, 21:54. I would find out after my run that at that point, I passed five kilometers. It's amazing that during my sophomore year of high school, my 5k pr was only a minute faster than that. I find it amazing how much I have progressed since then.
Coming up shortly on my left was a small neighborhood, which I knew had a few rolling hills hidden inside of it. I breezed through the neighborhood and end up taking a quick pit stop to use the bathroom; my watch reads 29:08. I head back through the neighborhood and down a backroad. On this road, there were no lights. I could not see the road, and only two cars drove while I was on the road. It was a little difficult to navigate, but as long as I ran in the middle of the road, I was sure to be fine.
I got back to the end of 110th, 1.78 miles away from my house and my watch reads 39:00. At that time I was thinking, "Okay, a ten minute 1.78 mile run would be like 5:40 pace. Maybe I'll try to get back in twelve minutes and try to maintain my seven minute pace." I ventured down the 1.15 mile stretch of road and with a mile to go I glanced at my watch, 44:07. If I push the last mile, I can try to finish under 51 minutes, meaning that my last mile would be a 6:53. Turning into my development, I know that I only have one kilometer left to go and I try to quickly glance at my watch, but I couldn't see anything because the sweat dripping down my face got in my eye. I ignored it and just continued to push the pace.
As I ran through the newer developments of my neighborhood, I started to feel lactic acid accumulate, which made me realize that I was going faster than 6:53 pace. As I rounded the corner onto my street, I just focused on my form and staying relaxed while powering home (no pun intended). I stopped my watch the moment I stepped over the curb, 50:29. I look again to make sure that I read my watch correctly. 50:29. That meant that my last mile was 6:22, only 22 seconds shy of my schedule "tempo" pace. My legs felt surprisingly great when I walked into my house and headed straight to my computer to map out the run I had just traversed. Turns out I went 7.5 miles in 50:29, which is 6:48 pace/mile. My last mile may have dropped my average pace, but I still would have been under 7:00min/pace for the duration of the run.
At the beginning of the summer, I was struggling to maintain 7:20min/pace, and yet eight weeks later, I ran 30 seconds per mile faster AND ran a farther distance. I can tell that I have already improved so much since I have started my training and I can't wait to train harder during August. It's funny because I was talking with an old high school teammate, and I specifically told him that August is the month (during XC training) that separates the "Men" from the "Boys". The "Men" will continue to put in the miles and strive for excellence, while the "Boys" will watch the "Men" run and ponder how the "Men" got so fast. So now I'll conclude this blog with a quote from Bob Knight, one of the most successful NCAA Basketball coaches in history because I believe that it sums up how my mentality will be until I head back to school.
"The will to win is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare" - Bob Knight
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