This was a little different. We met at RunTex at 5:45 (the new standard time for the marathon group), and were told that Circuit was over for a while. Our task this morning was simply to run the ten mile loop with a 20 minute warmup, 40 minutes “comfortably hard,” and the remainder as cooldown. There were a good 15-20 people around for this workout so I figured that the odds of me being the slowest finisher were relatively slim.

A twenty minute warmup takes us East on Riverside, onto Lakeshore, and puts us pretty much where the sidewalk gives way to the gravel trail, which worked out very well. We were actually only a little over two miles for that portion because we had to wait for some traffic at the I-35 frontage road, the only road crossing on the loop. I wasn’t entirely sure how fast I should be going; we’d been cautioned against looking at our watches too much and trying to hit some random number. I had decided that I at least wanted to make sure that I didn’t fall behind Jan, so that was my goal.

It turns out that when I picked it up, I was pretty near the front of the pack. Now, I know that quite a few of the people I run with are faster than I am, so it didn’t surprise me at all when some of them passed me by. Patrick was leading, with someone I didn’t know; behind them was a solid sub-pack of 5-6 people including Frank and Sean, then I was next. I stayed with them for the first mile, but by about two miles in they’d pulled ahead; Patrick by 30 or more seconds, then Frank’s group about 15 seconds behind them, Sean about 5 behind Frank, and then I was about 10 behind Sean. I had no idea where anyone was behind me.

A little over three miles into the fast portion and we were passing underneath I-35 heading West. I began to hear some footsteps coming up on me so I picked up the pace a touch, but couldn’t do a huge amount without crossing the line from “comfortably hard,” to “damn hard.” It turns out that it was Carrie, who I’d run Mt. Bonnell with a few weeks ago, and she gently reeled me in and passed me by. We chatted briefly, but she was doing a solid 8-10 seconds per mile faster than I wanted to go. After she got about 20 feet ahead of me though either she slowed down or I sped up; we stayed in that relative position for the rest of the run.

As I headed into the fourth mile, I could feel myself tiring. I was noticing the uphills a whole lot more, and I think I was slowing on them as well. I know that I tried to catch up with Carrie, but again without hitting “race mode” it just wasn’t going to happen; still, at least she hadn’t gained on me.

For the last half mile I’d been checking my watch on a very regular basis; I stopped running 40:09 after the start of our speedwork and walked for a few minutes, the begrudgingly picked it up to a slow jog (actually about a 9:30 pace) and caught up with Carrie and Sean. We all made the decision that we were going to shuffle our way to MoPac for a well-deserved drink or five, then back home to RunTex. It turns out that I covered 5.28 miles during the speed portion, which gives me an average pace of 7:36 - that seems quite believable. It also means that I had an unofficial 5K PR during that tempo, which is (unfortunately) also quite believable.

Our cooldown was pretty good. We had to do a full three miles and even though it felt like we were just plodding along, our 9:30 pace was pretty good. I ended up chatting with Sean on the way back, Jan passed us with about a mile and a half to go doing at least a 9:00 pace, probably even faster. She’s not a huge fan of “slow” recovery running I’ve learned. Add in some more hydration at RunTex, and naturally some acceleration strides, and I was more than happy to call it a day. Next up, a large breakfast burrito.

After everything else was finished, Gilbert told those of us who have been in the Tuesday/Thursday group that he was changing our schedule for the next month or so. We’ll be doing these 10 milers (with different workouts) on Monday, doing a strength/speed workout on Wednesday, and doing a seven mile recovery run after each of those (Tuesday/Thursday). This week, Wednesday’s workout will be ten repetitions of the Wilke hill of death, with a 5K warmup and cooldown. Hopefully I’ll be fully recovered by Saturday’s 20 miler!

Gilbert has said that, after our long runs, these 10 mile tempo or pace runs will be our single most important workout. After today, I think I believe that.

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