Breaking Barriers

Well, I really did end up going after a bunch of records yesterday.  Not in the morning, when I usually run, but in the early evening, when I'm usually too tired to run.  I really was feeling unsettled, which I've been the last few days, and needed to release some energy.  So I took off and just let the run come to me.  I thought that I might have to back down at some point, but never did.  The result? A two minute personal best for my 8 mile hilly course!  Wow!  Miles 3, 4, and 6 were all-time bests, and Miles 2 and 7 were right up there.  Miles 1 and 8 were solid, reflecting the fact that I paced myself much better than I might have thought.  More importantly, it felt good to run hard.  My mind and body needed it.  I guess the need to break barriers is an important one for me.

Starting my run hard is always a challenge for two reasons.  First, there is definitely a need to warm up effectively, for which, if I don't, I will pay for it in many ways.  Second, the first few hundred meters are a fairly steep downhill, but then, the next mile is all uphill, fortunately not getting too steep until I get to the end of it, by which time I'm usually ready to start pushing harder.  I try to take advantage of the initial downhill to get some speed without hammering my body, and then I try to gradually increase my pace and effort as I start the uphill portion in a way that allows me to work myself into the run.  Yesterday went great, as my time for the first mile was definitely in the upper range, but not my fastest.  In fact, I think that I've managed to get under 8 minutes one time, fully warmed up and going all out.  My time yesterday was 9:20.  I actually have only gone under 9 minutes when I'm going hard just for the one mile, and my fastest time during my 8 mile runs has been 9:07.  Perfect.  

The second mile is where the real effort to go fast starts.  It starts with a steep 500 meter uphill and then flattens before gradually going downhill.  Getting a fast time here is all about pacing and achieving a solid effort.  My PR for this mile was a couple of weeks ago, when I only ran this mile hard and managed to go 8:47, my first time under 9 minutes, until I managed 8:57 today.  Miles 3, 4 and 5 were all ~8:25, all essentially my fastest miles for these, and then Mile 6 was also my fastest ever at 9:05, a full 20 seconds faster than anything I've done before.  This was significant in lieu of the fact that it's mile 6, a net uphill, finishing with a short, steep 200 meters and beginning another long climb at the beginning of mile 7.  How I enter Mile 7 is key, and yesterday, I pushed Mile 6, backing off slightly on the steep uphill at the end in order to make sure I had both the breathing and the legs to finish strong.  Really happy with my pacing and effort.  I was toggling between a very hard Zone 2 and a strong Tempo effort.  

Mile 7 is uphill until the last 500 meters which is a steep downhill, where I typically make up time.  That's the challenge, going fast for 500 meters, which is more related to my legs than my breathing.  My fastest time ever on this section is 8:12, and so I was thrilled to see 8:24 on my watch as I completed the mile.  Mile 8 is always about hanging tough on a long downhill, until the last 400 meters, which flattens out to finish with 200 meters steeply uphill to the finish.  I've gotten pretty good about being able to finish strong over the last 200 meters, no matter how I feel, and yesterday was no exception.  I kept a solid pace on the downhill, making sure I didn't blow up and leaving myself some energy for the final climb.  My PR for this mile is 7:55 and I was also thrilled to manage 8:08 yesterday.  

I literally took two full minutes off my fastest time on my hilly 8 mile course.  Could I have gone faster? Maybe.  But, in the context of what I was trying to do, this was perfect.  It wasn't a race, it was a very, very solid hard effort for 69 minutes.  Being 8 miles, and being more than an hour, it shouldn't be either a 10K or a lactic threshold effort.  Most likely, I pretty much nailed the effort.  The other positive was that it just felt good.  It was hard, definitely hard, but it felt good.  I got my broken barrier and I got the endorphins that I think I needed yesterday!