I was up late last night, as I was helping one of the professors perform data collection for a project, so I decided to just run a speed workout on the treadmill at UNLV where I would not have to deal with as much heat. I waited until the little ones went down for naps before leaving, and when I got to UNLV the lab was 84 degrees inside (so I guess it really wasn't much of a relief from the heat). I turned the a/c down to cool the lab off, and started my run. I had bandaged up my feet so that they would not hurt so much, and that worked out pretty well for me. I started off slow, but sped up progressively over the first few miles until I was running 6:40 pace just 3 miles into the run. I then continued to speed up until I was running sub 6:20 pace for the mile before I started my tempo run. I started my speed work after 9 miles, running the first 8.5 miles in 58:01. The plan was to run 10 miles, with the first 5 miles at 11.3 mph (approximately 5:18 pace) and the last 5 miles at 11.4 mph (approximately 5:15 pace). In order to account for the lack of wind resistance I put the treadmill on a mild incline (1%), and then put a fan to my side to simulate a cross wind. Just before I started the tempo I went to the bathroom, got some water and changed my shoes as well. I also checked the temperature in the lab, and it was still 80 degrees when I started the tempo. The first 5 miles went according to plan, and I went through 5 miles at 11.3 mph in 26:32. I did not feel like I could run 5 more miles at 11.4 mph, but I upped the pace anyways after the first 5 miles, and kept running. 7 miles into the tempo I could tell that I was struggling. I was glad that I was on the treadmill, because if I was not I probably would have just given up and slowed down. Mentally it is easier to not slow down when you have to do something physically to make it happen (push the slow down button). I could tell that my body was capable of running the pace, but it was hard enough that I knew if I did not have that extra motivation I would have caved mentally and slowed down. 9 miles into the tempo (last 4 miles in 21:02) I felt like I was pushing the pace too hard, and was not relaxing enough, so I decided to back off the pace for a half mile in order to relax. I hoped to follow this by running a final mile at 11.4 mph. The problem was that a half mile was not long enough for me to truly recover, and I was running too fast to recover quickly (finished the half mile in 3:41 for an average pace of 7:22). The result was that the final mile felt a little easier for about 0.1, and the final 0.9 felt considerably harder than it felt before I slowed down. That last mile was torture. It has been a long time since I have hurt that bad while running, but I held the pace. The total time for the final 5 miles (excluding the half mile "recovery") was 26:18, for a 10 mile split time of 52:50 (again, minus the "recovery"). I then ran an extra half mile to finish 20 miles with a total time of 2:01:42. I have mixed feelings about this workout. Conditions were not ideal (77-78 degrees inside when I finished the workout) and the mild incline the treadmill was on plus the fan made conditions difficult as well, so I was not surprised that I struggled some. I also ran the 10 mile tempo faster today than the 2 x 5 mile tempo I ran on the same treadmill a month or so ago (despite running a faster warm-up). However, I feel like I should be able to handle this type of pace with almost zero difficulty even when conditions are not ideal if I am going to qualify for the trials this fall. If I can barely manage OTQ pace for 10 miles in a workout at the end of a low mileage week, how am I supposed to do it for 26 miles? I may be reacting somewhat harshly, as the workout didn't kill my legs like the last treadmill long run I ran (wasn't sore at all on Sunday), and the temperature difference of about 20 degrees (or more), and the difference of about 2000 ft elevation when running at sea level during my next marathon will certainly make hitting an OTQ easier in November than it would be running on the treadmill here in Vegas. However, I can't seem to shake the thought that I really need to be able to hit my goal pace even in bad circumstances for at least the half marathon distance if I want to get the qualifier.
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