8/3/10. 6.0mi. 41:06 (6:51/mi) I took Sunday off after 7 days in a row and didn't run Monday due to family stuff (an infant who takes teething seriously and wants company at night when he can't sleep). Today I was back at it planning a fast tempo run with what should have been fresh legs. Oddly my legs were heavy and sluggish almost from the start. I ran my standard work loop counter-clockwise hoping for a fast time. I ran the net-downhill first mile in 6:17 and then turned onto the corridor trail where the legs started to complain. I struggled to get up the two sharp inclines but still managed under 12 min. to the Bridle Trails entrance, a good benchmark for me.
I continued south at what I felt was a 90% effort. Toward the end of the southern stretch I slowed and struggled to keep a high turnover to the big downhill. I opened it up on the descent and saw my Garmin drop to a 4:56/mi pace for a few seconds. I don't know how real runners can keep that kind of pace on flat roads.
Whatever I gained on the fast descent I gave back on the following ascent up to 148th ave. I struggled to keep a pace under 9:00/mi up the hill as I reached the top. I turned onto 148th with 1.4mi. to go I saw 31:17 on my watch which gave me little hope of breaking 40 min. for the run. I steamed on up the gentle incline toward the gym and spotted another runner a few hundred meters ahead. I used him as a carrot to keep me kicking toward the finish. I passed him and gave as much as I could with a 6:45 final mile and hit my start point in 41:06.
I'll take another shot at a sub-40 next week. I didn't feel like I was able to give it everything today.
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