9/8/11

HMT W3 D?, I've already lost count :p

Scheduled: 30 min tempo run, no route... out and back.

Coming off 4 really good runs, I was looking forward to this class. I had struggled for the other group runs, so I kinda wanted to show everyone that I wasn't a huge wuss. Not that I'm not, but they don't need to know that.

The first words out of the coaches mouth when he arrived were "this will be your first speed training run". Immediately I thought "whoa dude, it's a tempo run!". Glad I didn't say it out loud.  I assumed, wrongfully apparently, that a tempo run meant running a nice steady tempo. If only there was a book or website where one could look up such words and/or terms, then life would be sooo much easier. O.o

He explained that what we were going to do was take our 5k pace and add two minutes to it. Run 10 mins at that pace, then speed up for 10 minutes, then slow back down for the last 10.

Well I don't have a 5k pace. I have only finished two 5ks fully running in my life. The first was in 2006 and I finished in 35:04. And the other was the 5k I did in July that the course was cut short due to the other runners who made a wrong turn. Even though math is not my best subject, I figure my time would have been 32:15 for the full 5k. So that puts me around 10:45ish?!?

As with the other group runs, he plans to break us into the 10:00m/m group and everyone else. That put them setting out at about a 12m/m. I figured I could hang with that since I'm running around 11m/m right now. I did fine with that, pulling up the rear. I like the rear. It keeps me from running someone else's pace.

So at the 10 min mark, he hollers and we pick up the pace. I'm hanging good, still in the back. We turn around after 5 minutes. Not really sure what happened here or more importantly why, but I started passing people. I really was just running what I felt I would run in a race. It ended up being around 9:20. I know, greased lightning! I ended up passing all but two runners, and that included the two coaches. I heard them comment to each other about my pace. I even heard him comment about how the first day I barely finished. That made me happy :D

I finished the run just fine. However I did have an accident during. Yes, I am saying I wet myself. So embarrassing. But I'm pretty sure no one noticed. Now, I've read all about this. But somehow I just figured it was a race thing. Never imagined it to be an issue while training. My bladder should just be smarter than me. Needless to say, I ran straight to my car and went home. Barely even said bye. I am going to hope that with the cooler weather I just need to hydrate less?!?