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February 13, 2005
1:19:36/163
Last summer when working on fast 10 km runs, I invariably ran an out-and-back circuit. The hardest part was turning around at the halfway point to face the 3rd quarter.
This morning's step-back long run, 16 km (10 mi), marked the halfway point (in time, not distance) of my training for the Lyon marathon in April. It was raining a bit too hard, with a few granules of snow mixed in with the downpour. Nathalie and I had gone out to eat last night. I got to bed late, then got up too late to eat (and digest) breakfast before heading out at 8 am. My body felt tired before starting the run. So I jogged for a couple of minutes and stretched, but still felt weighted down.
First I started out too fast in an attempt to get my blood flowing. That felt okay for a while, but not great. Then I turned around at Chapareillan into an inhabitually strong headwind, which was full of rain. I got sopping, dripping wet in the first 8 km (5 mi). My top started rubbing and my legs felt like someone had doused them in icewater. Everything tightened up, making it a challenge to run smoothly. When I got back to the house for a drink, I'd already been going more than 39 minutes.
As I reached the 10 km point, the sun broke through the clouds and the rain cleared up, but I was slowing down, losing my concentration. My head was falling forward. My heart rate had dropped to 78% at the bottom of the hill in Chapareillan. I'd run out of gas.
I then tried something Hal Higdon suggests, speeding up to get through the bad patch. A medium-sized tree stands to the left of the road a good way up the first hill from Chapareillan. I aimed to push the pace just to that tree and see how I felt. As I neared the tree, I decided to surge another 100 m or so to the crest. That helped get me going. I managed to pick up the pace enough to come in just under 8-minute miles.
Posted by Mark at February 13, 2005 10:50 AM