Called a Timeout

I did not run Saturday. I had a few things to do, and I knew that if I ran first, they would not get done. When I finished in the afternoon, it had warmed up quite a bit and I wasn't feeling so well. I took a little nap, hoping to feel good enough to run in the evening. Didn't happen. I fought to stay awake after 10:00 to finish watching a movie. I got to bed around 11:00 and slept to noon Sunday. Felt tired most of the day, so never thought about running. Sherri wanted me to get her bike out. Since I knew it would be a short, easy ride in the neighborhood, I rode mine, too - about 2 miles.

Originally, I was to run 4 miles today, but I wanted to get the long run in. My half marathon schedule called for 6 Saturday. Since I knew I could run 6 (what I've been running on Wednesdays) and had failed many attempts at 10, I decided to meet in the middle with 8.

I started off like I was only running a couple of miles - 8:34. Mile 2 was 9:03. My usually slow Mile 3 was at 9:31. I was slowing down, but didn't want to go over 10:00 until the return trip, and I was losing about 30 seconds each mile. Then things changed...

I met Shane running towards me. Like a smart coach, when I noticed the other team (Shane) had the momentum over my team (me), I called a timeout. I was at 3.1 miles. I think he was at 4.3 of his 10 miler. We talked for awhile and headed in our opposite directions. The timeout helped me - Mile 4 was at 8:53. I don't know if it helped him or not. I will check his blog once I finish typing my entry. We crossed paths again after we ran to our halfway points and turned to make the return trip. I was about at Mile 5. He looked like he was having an easy time. Mile 5 was 8:59 for me. Shane's effortless look, and that he was doing 2 more miles than me, sparked me to try to run faster. I did a little - Miles 6 and 7 were both at 8:52. I then knew I had a chance to finish in under 9:00. I gave it all I had on the last mile. Slowing down - run faster. Slowing down - run faster! My heart rate max hit 189 as I finished Mile 8, because that is where the recovery started. It ended at 138. Avg. was 170. Min. was 62. I finished Mile 8 in 8:09. My total time was 1:10:52, for a pace of 8:52.