THOMAS' TEMPO TEST

I was chatting with Katie from Runs for Cookies yesterday and I guess it finally hit me... I have to run a 10k with her in April at 7:55/mile. I already knew this, I just hadn't thought that much about it. Like me needing to be in shape to do that. And with my recent spat of being injured and not caring, that pace for that long might prove to be a challenge. Considering that nine minute miles are leaving me breathless, I better get to work on that.

That was only one of a number of reasons for doing a tempo run though. I have the Miami Half Marathon next weekend and I haven't ran fast since Thanksgiving at my last half marathon. A week after that I have the Zena Road Runs 15k and I would also like to finish that before they shut the course down. And then before I know it the Shamrock 15k will be here. So now that I am "better" I need to start incorporating some faster runs into my routine to make sure I don't completely embarrass myself.  Yes, I realize nobody cares but me, but still. Also, I want to be able to pace Katie because that is something I promised.

So when I got home yesterday from work it was off to Planet Fitness to run four fast miles. I was unable to run Wednesday with PRC, so I was planning on running anyways, just not very fast. Briefly I thought about running outside, but the drive home was rainy, dark, and cold... which just so happens to be all the reasons I joined the gym. So off to the treadmill it was. I pressed the "speed" button upward until my pace dipped below 8:00/mile. It settled on 7:55/mile, the pace I'll need to maintain for 6.22 miles in April.

I am happy to report the run went well. It was challenging but I was able to lock into a groove and it wasn't too bad. For a while I was going to stop at 3 miles and then do a "warm down" mile, but around mile 2.5 I convinced myself to just do the whole thing. And I did! The last mile wasn't really harder than the others and I'm convinced I could have gone at least one, if not two more miles. So it was a nice little boost in confidence. I still got something in my legs from all that training. It's not quite the tempo runs I was doing last summer, but it's in the ballpark.