Running with my neighborhood training partner Heath has been a great motivator to run faster. We started training together about a year and a half ago. He was of the only person that was willing to get up a 4 am to run or bike from Congress Park. Let me tell you, that helps. He will be the second one to bring up that he is more athletic than me, but my years of experience still provide me with the upper hand for the weekend slugfests.
This Satuday morning run was a drop in distance while picking up the pace. We decided on the Highline Canal path for our tempo outing. It is a the best spot in Denver to shut off the mind and just run for hours on flat, forgiving crushed gravel surface. Heath was armed with grapefruit knee, but his grit wouldn't let him succumb to the "injury". We took off on the chilly morning, setting out to complete two efforts inside of an 18 mile run. The first four mile tempo felt great and the 6:40 pace was not too much of a struggle. With a two mile recovery, I wanted to bring this tempo up and try to hold under 6:30 pace. My legs burned pretty good and I got it done, but Heath dropped back to relax a little, haha.
Let me tell you, the last 4 miles back to the car was a struggle to hold a quick recovery pace. This workout was a kick to the groin, but my understanding of the challenge of super distance training and maintaining speed has improved. The combination is going to be tricky, but that only makes this more fun. Time to get Coach Jared on the phone and really formulate the plan for another marathon personal record. www.TriEndurance.com
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