Not bad for having been sick

I ran my 5 mile tempo run tonight. It was only my second run of the week after coming down with a cold over the weekend.

I had an okay night with temps at 31 with a 9mph wind out of the SE creating a wind chill of 23. I warmed up with a mile in 7:50 and took about 2:30 to stretch out before starting my tempo. I was hoping that I would be able to run the 6:45 pace that my body had seemed to like for my previous tempos. I also knew that my body might not want to go that fast so I decided that I would be happy with 6:55 pace.

My 5 mile course is a little more difficult than the 3 and 4 mile courses I'd run my other tempos on as there were a few minor hills in the first 3 miles. The 3 and 4 mile course have one small hill at about the 2.5 mark and otherwise resemble and asphalt track.

My 6:53.47 first mile seemed a little rough but that may have been the 9mph wind I had in my face for most of it. I regrouped with a 6:41.30 second mile split and a total time of 13:34.77. Mile three threw a few hills my direction and I ran a 6:56.24/20:31.01 split that felt much faster than it was. Mile four went past in 6:52.83/27:23.84 and I finished up with a 6:53.00 5th mile for a time of 34:16.84.

To put this workout in perspective I looked back at my five mile splits from Abe's Amble and the Passavant/Powerade 10k races I ran last summer. My split at Abe's was 34:08.39 and at the PP 10k it was 34:23.69. I think that I am capable of going under 42:00 for 10k. . . on a PRACTICE RUN!

Tomorrow will see me run an easy 5, Saturday will be a 13 miler and Sunday will be another easy 5 for a total of 35 miles for the week.

Only 8 more days until the LSA 5k in Decatur.