Yesterday was stretching, so today I did my first post-race run. It was late, so I ended up doing it on the treadmill at the office, not my first choice of locations, but better than risking a slip in the mud running on a darkened trail. I took the heel inserts out of my shoes this time, since I was running purely on the flat, to see how I’d do. My plan was to do five miles at a 9:30 pace.

Well, I did the first half mile at 9:30, then stopped the belt to stretch my calves. After starting up again, I realized that I was actually running a little too slowly for good form. At the one mile point I sped things up to a 9:00 pace, which felt a lot better. You can see this coming, I’m sure - I figured that as long as I kept feeling good, it would be nice to see how fast I could get to without any issues. It would also get me off the treadmill faster, especially since I planned to do a lot of stretching. So…

Mile 0.0 - 9:30 pace
Mile 0.5 - stretch
Mile 1.0 - 9:00 pace
Mile 1.5 - stretch
Mile 2.0 - 8:40 pace
Mile 2.5 - stretch
Mile 3.0 - 8:20 pace
Mile 3.5 - stretch
Mile 4.0 - 8:00 pace
Mile 4.5 - stretch
Mile 4.5 - 7:30 pace
Mile 4.6 - 7:20 pace
Mile 4.7 - 7:10 pace
Mile 4.8 - 7:00 pace
Mile 4.9 - 6:40 pace
Mile 5.0 - 9:00 pace
Mile 5.5 - stretch

So - I guess that would be negative splits, at least. I’d call ‘em mile repeats except that those are supposed to be done at a 7:10 pace, which I didn’t hit until the last 400m. I’ll get there. The best part of all this was that even without the inserts, my ankle felt fine. This is a good thing. I was able to keep a 4/4 breathing pattern through the first four miles as well, although considering that I had a minute’s break every mile that’s less useful as a training sign.

Tomorrow, assuming no soreness, I’ll go for seven miles as per the schedule - probably not doing much in the way of speedwork (and certainly not doing any hills) though. Maybe a tempo run out on the trail or something. Stay tuned!

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