Whenever I go out for a run I typically have a plan, whether it's going 30 minutes or 90. Today my plan was to keep things short and sweet; 30 minutes easy. As I got on my way, I instantly noticed that I had a little more "pep" in my step. Now this next part may seem silly, but it was only up until this year, while I was training with the college team, did I realize that speed is relative to how much force you apply to the ground during contact. I know... I have been running for how many years and the concept of that only clicked a few months ago. The weird thing is that I have never really noticed it. Whenever I would run fast 400's or any fast intervals, I just quickened my stride and pumped my arms. I think it worked pretty well considering I have a 52 second 400 PR.
I quickly check my watch as I am leaving my neighborhood, 4:30. Now I know that at 7:00min/mile pace, it takes 4:20 to run one kilometer. Being ten seconds slower than that meant that I was running somewhere between 7:15 and 7:20min/mile. I didn't really care; I just trotted along down 110th and made my way toward Sunrise BLVD.
Sunrise BLVD consists of a long gradual hill, (About one kilometer from the base before it levels out at the top) that head up to the neighborhood of Sunrise. The road heading to my high school is at the top of the hill as well. I push the pace up the hill, trying to lower my average due to my slow, first mile. Recently I have been trying to make my average pace quicker than 7:00min/mile because on the training schedule my coach gave me at the beginning of the summer, he has all our easy runs done at 7:00min/mile pace. To me it's more of a mental thing, knowing that I can run faster than 7:00min/mile pace for the duration of a run.
As I crest the top of the hill my watch reads 12:30. I decided to head past the stoplight because I know that I am not quite at two miles yet. After I pass a small neighborhood of condo's, I check my watch again. 13:58...13:59...14:00. I stop my watch, turn around, restart it, and head back down Sunrise BLVD. The downhill was a little tricky for me because I haven't done a lot of fast downhill running this summer. A little painful on my shins, but I managed.
I head back up 110th and turn back into my neighborhood, glancing at my watch in the process, 22:30. I am pretty sure that I could close in four minutes for my last kilometer, which would not only put me at 26:30 for my run, but would mean that I closed in 6:25pace/mile. As I am running through my neighborhood, I try and keep my shoulders relaxed and turnover smooth. During the course of this year, I have learned how to run "comfortably hard," especially during my tempo runs and I feel like during the last mile or so of my runs, I have been able to utilize it to learn how to close quickly.
At the start of my run, there were several kids playing in the street, riding their scooters and bikes around the cul-de-sac, yet as I turned onto my road at the end of my run, none of them were to be in sight. With my house in sight, I am just thinking about closing this run smooth and relaxed. Stepping onto the curb I click my watch, 26:30. If I had gone four miles, that would have been rather fast, so I thought that I was probably shy of four miles. It turns out that I went 3.8 miles in 26:30, (6:57min/mile average with my last kilometer at 6:22min/mile pace). The run went really well; the weather was nice and I was able to close like I wanted to, but my shins were a little tight when I got home. I guess the downhill was a little rougher than I thought. All and all, I got another solid run under my belt.
31 days till I head back to school for XC camp. Oh and also lucky 13 for me and my girlfriend (13 months).
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