Monday was my first pace run in a very long time. I've missed the others this summer for actual excused reasons, so I'd have to sort of find my way around this time. The marathoners were going the full 10 mile loop, 2 EZ and 8 at pace. I chose to go a little shorter, in the 7-7.5 mile range, with easy 2 and pace for the rest of the run. Instead of doing the I-35 loop, I went ahead and started out with the marathoners, going out to Longhorn Dam and then I'd cut the run shorter by crossing at the Pfluger bridge instead of going all the way to Mopac. How would it go?
It was a smaller crowd today for the pace run, but that's to be expected. We all started jogging our warmup miles when Gilbert stopped us at the Town Lake dinner boat near the Hyatt. That's the exact starting point for 10 miles even, I guess. He gave us a few words of encouragement and we were off. The faster folks weaved around us all within the first half mile, and I sort of settled in a pack with Amy (it was good to see her again after all her weekends of cycling this summer!), Thon, Carrie, Mike and maybe someone else... Anyway, the warmup miles were a little snappier than usual, 2 miles at about 9:12/mile average, but so far, so good. Everyone stopped at the water fountain right at the two mile mark, but I figured I'd go on ahead and get started. There were plenty of places to get a quick drink along the way, after all. I wouldn't be doing their pace anyway, and Amy said she was going to do the 10 mile version, so partly out of embarassment, I became a party of one for this run.
I got off to a little too aggressive of a start, which is to be expected, since I haven't done this workout in a while. Once I saw that first "pace" split, I backed off just a little from there. I got a quick drink at the Holly power plant, and moved on. So far, I felt okay, but the heat and humidity made this pace run a lot different from the ones in the cooler weather! Soon enough, I rolled up on Gilbert and the Powerade/water stop underneath I-35. While I was there, Mike, Carrie and Thon came and went by me. That's okay with me. I tagged along at a distance behind them after that water stop, but they slowly pulled away. My first mile after the water stop was slower, and my legs felt a little dull. Still, I chugged along, and crossed up the spiral ramp at Pfluger, crossed Town Lake, and headed for home. I got a little bit of a quick finish after two lackluster miles coming in, but I'm okay with my performance today. It takes a while to get back in the swing of this workout, after all. Next time, I'll do the full 10 mile route, modifying my pace on the faster bits so that I finish stronger.
The numbers: 9:24, 9:01 (warmup miles), then 7:42, and 0.66 miles at 7:52, (0:28 water stop, a "splash and go" in NASCAR parlance), 7:53 and 0.33 miles at 7:47, (1:07 water/Powerade stop), 8:11, 8:16, and 0.38 miles at 7:43 for a decent finish. 7.37 miles, 8:31/mile pace with the two quick water stops, 8:18/mile without the stops. My pace running was around 7:55/mile without accounting for water stops, 8:15 or so with the stops included. I'll take it.
Once I got to the water coolers at the zero marker, I grabbed a couple cups, and then did a nice easy cooldown lap around Auditorium Shores, which helped a lot. 6 striders after that, and it was a good day's work. I did the full stretching regimen with Lisa and chatted with Alex and some of the troops afterwards as well.
For the day, about 8.5 miles. Now, can I get going on the rest of the week's workouts?
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