Workout: Ran 5.18 miles in 46 minutes, 15 seconds; average pace, 8:55.
I felt like an idiot. There I was, on the sidewalk alongside a semi-busy road, with my hand down the back of my pants. Fumbling with the dang zipper of my Adidas shorts. All I wanted to do was put my ear buds in my hidden pocket so they wouldn't bounce silently on my chest. That's all. Instead, I'm sure passing motorists thought I was having gluteus maximus issues ... or worse, gastrointestinal ones.
Nope. Just trying to put away the ear buds because my iPod crapped out on me. I bring the dern thing for the first time in a month (or more), and it can't even make it 4 miles, much less 5.
"Why did I bring it in the first place?" I thought to myself, in probably cruder language. Oh, yeah. I brought it because I thought I'd try my hand at a tempo run with two weeks to go before the Rock and Roll Chicago half-marathon. Yeah, that's how I stride.
Anyway ... I decided it might be fun to (arbitrarily) follow a Runner's World plan designed to help someone train for a sub-2:00 half. The Week 1 workout called for a mile warm-up, 3 miles at 8:54 pace and a mile cool down.
Splits: 9:59, 8:50*, 8:44*, 8:21*, 8:50**
*I obviously can't follow directions. **Subsequently, I'm fairly certain that I have no idea what a cool down is.
I took Denali with me for the run but I opted to loop home and drop him off after 3 miles because he was starting to look fatigued. Sad showing for a husky, really. I'm sure he'd blame the heat, humidity and brutal sun. Or maybe he knew I'd give him a frozen bone to chew on while I was gone. He's pretty manipulative that way.
Can you see the deception in his eyes?This weekend is my last long run of this half training cycle. It might be 12 miles. It might be more. We'll see how I feel and how early I wake up.
Have a great Friday!
good luck with the 12!
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