RIGHT DIRECTION

Well, I seem to be heading in the right direction. Two weeks ago I ran my first tempo run and averaged 6:50 pace for 4 miles. This morning I made it 5 miles at 6:47 pace. It definitely helped having that first one under my belt. I’ve been running these on my old stomping grounds, the LTR in Hopkins. I like it because it’s flat and I can get into a rhythm, as opposed to running these around Braemar Golf Course, like I did last year.

After opening the tempo run with splits of 6:55 and 6:50, I noticed that my leg turnover didn’t seem very quick. I’m thinking it’s because of skiing where I focused on getting longer glides. Anyway, after that, I focused on a quicker stride rate and rattled off 6:40, 6:38 and 6:45 for the last 3 miles.

It looks like more strides will be in my future to help with my turnover.

I was also a lot more calm and focused for this tempo run. Again, I think just having one under my belt helped a lot. Whenever my mind started to race in a hundred different directions, I was able to calm down and focus on my stride and breathing. Thinking about this weekend’s 10K helped too.

Overall, it was a pretty good workout – especially being two days after a 20 miler.

Quote of the Day;

“I don’t train as much as the men do. But I train to the best of my ability and do not feel inferior to men in ability. I sometimes train with the men and this gives [me] confidence.” – Dire Tune