After missing last week’s speed workout, I was focused on doing this one well. My iPhone had other plans, however. Before I went to bed last night, it froze, so I wasn’t able to set my alarm. I grabbed the alarm clock from the spare room, and hoped my iPhone would be better in the morning.
I woke up at 5:30, and the iPhone seemed ok. I grabbed my stuff for the gym and headed over. Right before I got on the treadmill, however, my phone started acting up again.
Ok, treadmill runs aren’t really fun. Speed workouts aren’t really fun. But couple that with no music… ugh.
Still, I knew I had a job to do:
15-30 min warmup, 5-8 miles at MP, 15-30 min cooldown
Naturally, the warmup and cooldown weren’t going to be the fun part. Since the treadmill maxes out at 30 minutes, I decided to do 6 miles at MP (7:45) by running three, then restarting the ‘mill.
Even without music, I was surprised how quickly the time went. Sure, sometimes I felt as though the clock had stopped, but overall I felt ok. The pace wasn’t ‘easy’, but it wasn’t hard, either. I thought about Heather Daniels, who had just pulled off an amazing 3:14:xx at CIM, a 21 minute PR. I ‘only’ want to cut off 6 minutes, and getting comfortable at this pace is what’s going to do it for me.
I ran the 6 miles at an average 7:41 pace (target was 7:45), with an average heart rate of 174. The last half mile or so I was getting a bit tired/bored/ready to be done, but it wasn’t too bad. 20 more miles at that pace? Hmm…. well… gimme a few weeks! 
