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A visitor from my past, hopefully here to stay

Eleven weeks ago I wrote about a pretty unhappy 8-mile run at the Sawyer Camp trail. I averaged 10:30 per mile, and I longed to get my old speed back. Today I went back to that trail for the first time since that day. I ran 11 miles at an average pace of 9:38 per mile. I was as shocked as I was impressed with myself.

Now I probably ran a wee bit harder than is appropriate for a long run. My heart rate was a little higher than my comfy aerobic zone. But I am 14 pounds lighter than I was then, and I have been doing weekly track workouts since the end of June. Wait, that was only a month ago. Huh.

That's another thing. I did my first track workout in years just six weeks ago. It was painful, slow, discouraging. I had never run so hard to see such disappointing times. But in six weeks, I have made huge progress. This week I ran five 800s in 3:35 (give or take a couple seconds), which I'm guessing is pretty close to the fastest I've ever run that distance.

Speedwork, weight loss, consistency. These things do make you run faster. Something else that makes you run faster? Running faster. I've been noticing, especially on long runs, that my HR was getting lower and lower but I was still running the same plodding pace. I had to consciously decide to speed up, make an effort to lift myself out of the easy-peasy slow-run pace I've gotten used to. Running on the track has surely helped my legs remember how to turn over faster.

I've also started taking a wattage-based indoor cycling class; that's a story for another post. Will it help my cycling? That remains to be seen. But wow, is it fun!

Am I seeing the return of my old athletic self? (Not the old-old athletic self, the one who would reward herself with a 500-calorie bagel after a 30-minute elliptical workout -- the newer, faster old athletic self.) I really hope this week hasn't been a fluke.

I am racing my first half-ironman of the season next weekend, but if the temperatures are in or near the triple digits -- and there's a good chance it will be at least 90 -- I will not be running fast at all. I may in fact be walking, since I do all my training in cool foggy temps and tolerate heat badly. I have no idea what to expect timewise. My last half was over a year ago, and my time there was 6:29. The bike course at next week's race is slightly hillier. If the weather cooperates, I think I can take a chunk of time off my run. But we'll see.

Honestly, I'm really hoping to see that speed in a second half-ironman five weeks later, the Big Kahuna Triathlon down in Santa Cruz. That's where I ran my PR at this distance (6:03) three years ago so I want to see how close to six hours I can get.

July 27, 2007 4:58 PM