Road Eight

Last year, I signed myself up for the Cape Elizabeth Mid-Winter 10 Miler. It was cancelled, but the race directors gave runners the option to sign up for this year's event. So, when that chance came up this year, I said, sure, why not? The problem is that now the race is a week away. And while I have been running, I wouldn't say that I have been training to run fast for 10 miles. So, I thought that today maybe I should attempt some sort of tempo/pace/"I don't really know what I'm doing, but I should see if I can hold 7:30s for any amount of time" type of run.

I spent the morning with Sam and Ryan. We asked Sam what she wanted to do and she said, "go the grocery store," so after a bit of playtime at home, we went to the pet store (always a hit!) and the grocery store (always a productive outing). Once we had had lunch and put Sam down for her nap, I headed out for my run. I wasn't really feeling it. An 8 mile road run on a loop that I have never found as nice as Ryan has. On a windy afternoon. Attempting to go "fast." Hmph. But, a bunch of the TMRs had done a totally badass trail run yesterday, 20 miles in the snow, falling into streams, with 4 long hill repeats at the end. How could I not do a measly 8 miles on the road? Peer pressure can be a good thing in situations like this. OK, out I went. My plan was for 2 miles easy and then the last six at 7:30s. I ended up with 8:12; 7:56; 7:30; 7:57; 7:59; 7:34; 7:31; 7:34. Not perfect, OK in the end, except for those middle miles into the wind on Meadow Cross. Maybe I can get close to my 2009 time after all? We shall see.

After the run, we took Sam out back to tromp around in the snow for a bit, and despite this silly "non-winter," there was more than enough snow in the shadows for us to have fun in!