Maybe it was the coffee.
Tired, I got up at 4 and slacked off sipping hot coffee and tapping the keys of the computer. Time just whirred as I lazed about waiting for the 6am start to today's 60 minute jog around town. Before I knew it, it was time to be out the door and on the frosty roads. I hit the start on the HR monitor and stopwatch and off I shuffled into the quiet air. I wasn't hurting this morning but I took 2 motrin for safety's sake.
By the time I climbed up to the high school at 1/2 mile I felt like I was running slightly faster than usual. And then something strange happened. At 3/4 mile I got the *twinge* in the inner right quad, my gait faltered, corrected, and then like an engine reclaiming a damaged piston I was suddenly had new legs. The pace quickened immediately, my breathing got easier, my arms relaxed, and I got my stride back. I thought 'what just happened?'
I still don't have an answer but the legs were done with the old slog; they wanted a new and improved stride and they got it. Breathing easily, I let the body dictate a relaxed pace that progressively got faster as the miles flew by under the feet. No more twinges, no more soreness, nothing to indicate a problem present or past. 'What is going on?' I asked more than once as I felt myself speeding up to MP for some serious training. The legs were in control of this run and I was a mere passenger. An amateur at the controls afraid to push any buttons - letting the train fly away on its own.
For the next two miles I thought I'd have a new wreckage report for the blog but after completing the first 3.05 mile loop in 20:48 (6:49 pace) I finally let go of my disaster fears and let the engines burn. Loop two scooted by in 19:33 (6:25 pace) and I completed my final loop in 19:03 (6:15 pace). I had to add an extra tenth of a mile to get my full hour.
2:45 Report:
9.25 miles, 1 hour. MP run. Felt great, relaxed.
By the time I climbed up to the high school at 1/2 mile I felt like I was running slightly faster than usual. And then something strange happened. At 3/4 mile I got the *twinge* in the inner right quad, my gait faltered, corrected, and then like an engine reclaiming a damaged piston I was suddenly had new legs. The pace quickened immediately, my breathing got easier, my arms relaxed, and I got my stride back. I thought 'what just happened?'
I still don't have an answer but the legs were done with the old slog; they wanted a new and improved stride and they got it. Breathing easily, I let the body dictate a relaxed pace that progressively got faster as the miles flew by under the feet. No more twinges, no more soreness, nothing to indicate a problem present or past. 'What is going on?' I asked more than once as I felt myself speeding up to MP for some serious training. The legs were in control of this run and I was a mere passenger. An amateur at the controls afraid to push any buttons - letting the train fly away on its own.
For the next two miles I thought I'd have a new wreckage report for the blog but after completing the first 3.05 mile loop in 20:48 (6:49 pace) I finally let go of my disaster fears and let the engines burn. Loop two scooted by in 19:33 (6:25 pace) and I completed my final loop in 19:03 (6:15 pace). I had to add an extra tenth of a mile to get my full hour.
2:45 Report:
9.25 miles, 1 hour. MP run. Felt great, relaxed.
posted by Andrew at 1:08 PM
6 Comments:
All aboard!!
whoa. too cool.
Musta been the rest day!
Hey, I had a very similar situation yesterday. My guess is that the load distribution to the muscle groups is different for different pace. So depending on the soreness or freshness of the various muscle groups, a quicker pace may feel much better than a slower pace. Hope we can find some theory to back this up :)
Smokin' splits. Nice going.
Geez, what the hell happened between the post at 3:42 and the post at 11:09? Who are you and what did you do with the Andrew who just finished a marathon?
Nice work, sounds like it came easy today-as it should be.
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