Hump Day Hustle

My new favorite training run is the tempo run.  Why?  Because it's a confidence boosting run that in my opinion shows how realistic your race day goals will be.  Speedwork is awesome, and long slow runs still will always have a place in my heart...but you don't do intervals in races and hopefully you're pushing beyond your "talk-test" comfort zones even when you race half marathons.

Now with tempo runs, the ideal is to hold a steady pace that is at about 90% of your maximum effort. It is a mental exercise as much as a physical one.  To quote Runner's World "Without getting too technical, threshold pace is the effort level just below which the body’s ability to clear lactate, a by-product of carbohydrate metabolism, can no longer keep up with lactate production. Daniels states that this pace is, for most people, about 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than current 5K race pace."  My current 5K PR is a 25:51, or 8:20 per mile.  When I do tempo work, I try to stay around 8:40-8:55 per mile.

So how did it feel yesterday?  Awesome!  I felt great at the 2 mile turn-around so instead of holding the 8:45 pace I was shooting for, I had negative splits and sped up...making it my fastest 4 mile run ever.  How do I celebrate a new best?  With mac n' cheese pizza and Kentucky Bourbon Ale while watching a beautiful Florida sunset.