First long tempo – brutal as normal!

Workout:  19 miles with 2×2 miles @5:40 at beginning, 3 miles @whatever I can muster (eventual goal is to hold 5:40s – but I’ve done  enough marathon training cycles to know that type of strength doesn’t come until about 3-4 weeks to race day!).

Actual:  19 miles with 2 miles in 11:29 (5:41, 5:48), 11:45 (5:45, 6:00), 3 miles at end in 6:07, 6:12, and 5:55 for the first .4 (then watch died).  (first .2 of the 3rd mile were downhill – yeah!)

Pat Foley biked the first two tempo segments with me, which was so great.  Pretty sure I would have stopped during that 4th mile if not for him (since by the end I was really struggling).  But I did those two, and although not at goal pace,  I think this is the fastest I’ve started my long tempo segments  of any training cycle.  Woot, woot! 🙂

Not really what Pat looks like. Or his bike.

Pat peeled off for home and I walked to the Kwik Trip bathroom, praying I would make it. My stomach was NOT happy and I felt sick. That’s the sign of a great tempo effort! Ha! After some time there, I seriously gave thought to just lying on the floor and sleeping. I didn’t, that would be gross. Plus, I still had a lot of workout left… not a fun realization when you’re not feeling so hot.

I ran back home, picked up Mesa for the in between miles, and then dropped her off before the start  of the last fast 3. I know I wasn’t supposed to, but I stopped and stretched and gave myself a mental pep talk before starting these. This is a bad habit of mine – stopping before hard segments in a long run. I’m supposed to just change gears (so it’s truly a long run vs. just a lot of segments). Before, I could get away with segmenting them. Now, well, I need to make myself as strong as I can, no short-cuts, no cheating!

The 3 miles were rough. My legs aren’t super strong yet, so I could feel the mileage already. Trying to go fast on tired legs is tough! But, this is what counts in the marathon. Long run strength. So I sucked it up and did the best I could. All I could muster were the times posted above. Not anywhere close to 5:40s, but hey, I’m proud of myself!

So – first long tempo run is in the bank.  Yeah! Now on to logging a ton of miles for the rest of the week :).  How many weeks before Chicago?  Oh yeah, just 13.5.  That’s a little scary!