Sunday, January 27, 2013

I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends

I've whined plenty about low motivation lately. However, amidst my perceptions, there have been glimmers of hope. Today was one of those days.

My grand scheme this week was to get Jeremy to run a long tempo run with me on part of the Maine Marathon course and fortunately it worked out. On top of being just an all around super cool dude, he's also running Boston and is also faster than me, so I knew I'd get a good pull.

We met up at 10am and were off. The air was frosty. We warmed up for a few miles, hitting the first in 7:30 and the second at 7:00 right on the nose. Then we let loose.

We were warmed up enough after two but naturally it took a few more miles to find our groove and feel "comfortable" with the pace. Not that the first few miles were a struggle or anything... it usually takes me about three or four miles before I feel like I'm clicking and then it's just a matter of holding it for the designated length. Fortunately, that's how it all panned out.

Went extremely well. Tempo portion was 6:37/mile for me and slightly faster for Jeremy (we decided to drop the hammer the last mile). I was very, very pleased with that. Jeremy was as well, since he hasn't been doing much (if any) speed work lately. Given that he could talk complete sentences during our tempo portion, it's obvious he had more to give so I appreciate that he held back some to run at my shoulder. Dude is just a beast.

Cooled down for the last two miles, plus change.. getting more caught up and chit chatting now that the pace was slower. Gives me renewed confidence and a spark to my motivation. Hopefully the string of upcoming races will do the same. Mid-Winter Classic is a week from today, so given today it'll probably be good to keep speed in check this week as I want to recover and do well there. Goal is to break last year's time of 1:05:07.

Ran 15.3 miles @ 6:53/mile pace, 11-mile tempo portion at 6:37/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Upper teens to lower 20s, sunny.
Saucony Kinvara 3, long tights, windbreaker, long sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

1 comment:

Jeremy Bonnett said...

Jamie it was an absolute pleasure for me as well. I had a couple rough miles in the beginning and was impressed with your fortitude. Around the half-way point was tough too and you pulled me through a few miles. So kudos to you as well man. You're going to break last years time for the Mid Winter for sure!