Getting harder and easier at the same time

Dang! What a great graphic! How'd I forget this one?

The body is old. Every morning I get up feeling sore and tired, and yet by the end of the day someone will show up and drag me through another hard segment. Overall this has had the effect of pulling my pace average way down from a month ago - which is a good thing, considering what lies around the corner. Huntsville is only about six weeks away.

I ran 4 with the girls team this afternoon, and it didn't feel all that great. The pace was way too slow, and the vertical pounding became unbearable. No matter - there would be another run later, and it would certainly be faster.

See, it's Wednesday, and for the past few weeks Greg has been pulling the pace down on the last couple of miles. To top it off, Scott would be there, and for the past few weeks he's been pulling the pace down on... every mile. Yup, the second run would be the hard one.

If that wasn't enough, the temperature has plummeted in the last few days. It was 45 degrees and the cold northwest wind cut right to the bone. The first run left me with a chill; hopefully the second run would be warmer.

Jimmy joined us, and surprisingly went the whole first three. Rand stayed with him, as did Roy, eventually. That left Scott, Greg, Miller, and myself launching off the front. I had no choice. If the gap opened too wide, I'd never cover it, because the pace was going to go up, up, up, and I knew it. Best to get on a heel and hold on.

Wit' da' Boyz

As the run data illustrates, once Scott dropped the hammer, the break was absolute between groups. The only surprising thing was Greg's unwillingness to go hard today. He had a schedule change of sorts, or so I understood, and he wasn't interested in hard tonight. Thank goodness for Scott, I guess.

It feels good to run that pace. Even as he dropped it under 7 minutes, it was so easy. I just wish I still felt good 5 minutes after stopping. Man! Even jogging across the street to go home... hurt. The price, I suppose.

Going to run after practice tomorrow. I'm taking whatever I can get.