Progressive Pace Run

This would be an adventure. Instead of the usual easy warmup, comfortable but accelerated middle section at something like marathon race pace, and easy cooldown for about 8-10 miles total, Gilbert prescribed a Progressive run, 10 miles, with (for me) 45 minutes easy running, and then accelerate each mile from there to the finish, trying to end up with something like 5K pace at the end.

I woke up today pretty beaten up with the second day onset soreness from Saturday's great run finally settling into my legs. My calves were very tight, and there was some minor IT type stiffness in my right knee area. Plus, it was pouring this morning as I took the kids to school (their bus was very late). I decided to wait out the weather a bit, since the TV radar showed a patch of clouds without heavy rain moving in. I had a Clif Bar and banana, and chugged some Accelerade, and packed a bunch of extra clothes, just in case. I decided to go with shorts and a long sleeved shirt and cap for this one, since it was 60 degrees or so as I drove down to Town Lake. I did a tiny bit of gentle stretching just to wake up the legs, and then I set out on my first Congress Bridge loop, clockwise, for the 45 minute warmup section.

I had problems keeping my HR down under the super easy warmup level, so I turned off the beeper after the first water stop at 2.3 miles or so. I think that's a sign that I'm still a bit tired from the Saturday run. My legs started to loosen up a bit as the warmup portion continued. Without the beeper on, I still tried to run nice and easy, but the pace picked up nonetheless. I finished the first loop at almost exactly 45 minutes, about 4.7 miles and 9:39 overall pace. A pretty good job with pacing, but I still felt a little out of sorts.

I took a GU at the water stop there at Mopac, and took off on the second faster loop. I felt better, actually, to get moving faster. I felt good with breathing and such, but my legs were still a little clunky to me. When I reached the water stop at about 2.3 miles, I had knocked off those miles in 8:20, 8:05, and a short bit at 7:36. I was, indeed, being progressive with my pacing. Encouraged, I soldiered on. I crossed the Congress bridge, and turned for home. I was feeling good at this point, legs and all, so I started rolling with it as I neared the finish. Next miles were 7:50 (with some bridge climbing and stairs to negotiate), and 7:11. The last .7 miles or so were at 7:10 pace, too. I caught my breath, and once I got home, I found that I had knocked out the 5.1 miles of the second loop (I doubled some of the loop due to my start point, and added a bit at the end to get the mileage up closer to 10 miles) at an average pace of 7:45/mile.

Overall run was 9.8 miles at 8:39 overall pace, which makes me happy. On a day that I felt not totally on my running game, I persevered and completed the workout, and was successful with the goals I had set for it. Tomorrow's 1,000m hilly repeats will be the last tough workout this week, as we do another mini-taper for the Motive Half Marathon on Sunday. I hope I'm not wiped out tomorrow after this run! I did 4 repeats last time at Meriden, averaging about 5:05/repeat (just longer than 1000m). I'll try for 5, maybe 6, tomorrow, shooting for a similar pacing.