I was back at the indoor track at Wabash College this morning at 6:00 and couldn't resist the temptation to run a mile for time. Yes, Mark, it was a real mile--8 laps and a tad more.
My 7:08 puts me well ahead of where I was last year when it took me until April or May to run 7:20. Also, given that I'm at my heaviest weight in quite sometime, haven't been doing much decent training, and had ran interval workout yesterday, this bodes well for this spring and summer running.
5 comments:
Of course, I can't resist commenting on the first mile attempt of 2008 among SUNY Binghamton bloggers! My initial reaction is to concur with you, that you are well ahead of last year's pace, and cracking 6 later this year should be attainable. However, when I saw 7:08, it sounded familiar, and I went back to one of your posts from mid-February, where you ran 1.5 miles, with the first mile being 7:08. My question is whether you feel you've lost ground in the last month due to travel, etc. Of course, running at 6 am would have an impact, at least for me. Anyway, nice job, and I fully expect the first outdoor attempt to be well under 7.
Mark
Doggone it! I was feeling pretty good about things until Mark's comment.
Yes, I have slipped since February. Travel takes its toll for a number of reasons, including eating more. I got on the scale last night and things were the worst I remember in a long time--I was well over 150.
I'll try and focus the next couple of weeks on eating better and getting in some better workouts.
Also, I just went and looked at the blog entry that Mark mentioned. That's the one where I said I would be running 6:40 by 21 March. Yikes! That's only 10 days from now. 6:40 now feels like it would be very difficult and 3:03 maybe even harder. I guess I won't know until the 21st.
Eric,
You could warm up and do a time trial at 6am? I'm impressed!
Dave
Can't resist another comment. I'm sure if I ran a mile at 6 am, I may as well lose 20 to 30 seconds right off the bat. The body just isn't ready that early in the morning. Of course, having been to Tokyo, maybe your body thought it was 6 pm, but more than likely, you were still recovering from jet lag. I have a greater appreciation for your traveling/running now. Last week, I was out of town, just one time zone to the west. I was busy, and did not make time to run for the entire 4 days. I did not gain weight, although 3 or 4 days after returning, my weight went up about 3 pounds (delayed reaction?). The bottom line is that if you ran 7:08 at 6 am after a month of traveling, just returning from a 12-hour time change, overweight, and a speed workout the day before, you're probably going to be ok in a couple weeks. Also, the 8 220s in 39 is not at all bad, as you were averaging a 5:12 mile pace!
Gaining three pounds after not running for a few days on a business trip is about right. And yes, the delay is typical. It's not just the lack of running. I find that when I travel I eat more. More meals, larger meals, and less fruit.
Now the good news is that those three pounds should come off pretty quickly. In fact, you need to make sure they do, because, if you don't get them off quickly, they somehow magically become part of who you are and they get more difficult to shed.
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