HARD DAYS

I was listening to a podcast yesterday about running (Runcast Weekly) and the author recorded himself running a marathon. He discussed how he was feeling after each mile and it was interesting to hear. At about mile 15 he thought he was going to have an unbelievable time but hit the wall soon after, finishing well behind what he had been thinking earlier.

It was then I started thinking about how our success in such races is only a reflection of the work we put into training in the weeks leading up to the race. My thought progression led quickly to the fact that I had not really pushed myself TOO hard in the hills segment I ran just an hour earlier. I mean....come on Shane! Hard days are supposed to be hard!

So when I woke up today I decided to do a tempo run instead of resting. Sure I may pay for it later but I still pretty good! I wanted to do two miles at my race day pace and went through it with no problems. In fact, I felt pretty good - like I could have finished a third mile at that pace!

So tomorrow is my speedwork day - "pace intervals"! Now, these are not meant to be as fast as the speed intervals I will start next week. But to really push myself, I think I will raise the bar a notch and do them at about a 7:50 pace instead of the 8:00 I have been doing the last couple of weeks. I will let you know how it went later!