A Tale of Two Runs

Today was a day of victory.  I finally nailed a workout that was kicking my butt back in May.  The goal was 12 miles:

Mile 1 - Warmup (no pace target)
Miles 2-8 @ 10:00
Miles 9-12 @ < 9:00

The first time I tried it, I blew up completely. 

Times for the last 4 miles:  9:09.  9:27.  10:32.  10:54. 

I tried it twice more over the next couple of weeks, with better results, but still never able to run even one of the last 4 miles under 9 minutes.  I was a little freaked out because my heart rate kept soaring into the 190s (I think my max is 200+ instead of the 184 predicted by the obviously imperfect formula), and only once was I able to recover enough that the last mile wasn't my slowest.

Today, I nailed it!

Times for the last 4 miles: 8:59.  8:58.  8:54.  8:33.

Yes.  8:33.  Nearly 2.5 minutes faster than the pace for the last mile the first time I tried it.  YAY.  My HR did creep up to the 190s during the last mile, but I took it in stride (no pun intended) and recovered quickly as soon as I finished.  I felt like a rock star on my cool down!

It's so amazing to see how far I've come.  If I compare Saturday's 20-miler (my third overall, first without walk breaks) to my first attempt back in April, I see huge progress there, too.  From 4:13 to 3:38 in 3 months.  (Granted, this last time I paused my Garmin for potty breaks and refilling my water bottles, but that didn't take anywhere near a half hour.)  And I felt significantly better after the last 20 than I did the first. 

Interestingly, though, the most recent one was only 5 minutes faster than the Galloway run/walk 20 I did a few weeks back, after which I felt FANTASTIC, which definitely makes me think I ought to consider that strategy for the 50K.  Not apples to oranges, though, because the most recent 20 came just four days after that first trail run, followed by a day of Yasso 800's, and only one day of rest, so my legs weren't exactly fresh going in.  :)

As for trail running, I took another crack at that this week, too.  This time I ran to the trail (just under 4.5 miles), took the same route going out and a different one coming back (without getting lost, just over 5 miles), and then ran home for a total of 14 miles.  Given that this was just 2 days after running 20 straight, I incorporated walk breaks and still ran significantly faster on the trails than I had the week before (averaging closer to 12-minute pace instead of 20!).  That suggests that with additional training and experience, plus cooler temperatures in December, maybe my ballpark of 6 hours isn't so ludicrous after all. 

One of the highlights of my week was stumbling on to this gem to help me prepare:

More details here: http://trailrunningcamp.org/

I can't believe that for the first time in more than 25 years, I'll be going to camp.  Running camp.  TRAIL running camp.  That serves civilians but seeks to attract combat veterans, who have such a dear place in my heart.  Led by people who not only do but actually win 100-mile races.  What a way to break into the world of ultramarathoning!  Quite fortuitous that the camp falls two weeks after Marine Corps, so I'll have that first 26.2 under my belt and a little bit of time to recover.  Then I'll have four weeks to practice what I've learned before my first ultra trail run.  Kind of like it was all divinely orchestrated.  ;)