Sunday, January 11, 2009

Jan 11th

Maybe I should start titling my titles with something other than the date? Hum, a thought.

Today was an awesome run! I ran with my training partner, Dennis, and we went over to the Highline Canal for a hard (hard for me. Easy for him) 12-miler. After a quick discussion, Rob told me 1:45 1/2 marathon pace. Hum I think my "goal" for my next half marathon is to run a 1:45, that's an 8-minute mile. Yikes. Not today! I felt good: my knees were being nice today and my legs felt fresh so things were good. But my breathing felt off and I was coughing a lot. Still having some of that sinus stuff and allergy stuff going on...not sure if that was the culprit of my breathing issues or what. Anyway, ran about 8:20 - 8:35 pace the first 6. Dennis' calf, which has been dogging him since he attempted the Denver marathon in September, was doing well (YES!); I think both of us were thinking ,without actually saying, how grateful we were for the agreeing body parts today. As we turned and ran the 6 back, I told Dennis I wanted to pick up the pace some; the wind was behind us and the topography was slightly (and I stress the word 'slightly') downhill. I wanted to see if my legs had enough strength in them to keep up another 6 at a quicker clip. I think we did well, Dennis' snazzy watch was reading about 8:10-8:15. With a mile and a half left to go, I told him I wanted to go about 8:05 to the end and I'd be his wingman and follow in behind him. I'm not sure how it happened, but we ran that first mile in a 7:30. Huh??? Hum Dennis, what happened to me following you in at an 8:05 pace? He told me I just took off and he followed in. I think I need a little chat with him!!!! Anyway, I slowed down with a quarter mile to go and within a couple hundred yards, I just gave up. I think I could have finished at that pace, I was just breathing hard, coughing, and well, I was just done.

So a very good day running: very little knee paid during or after; Dennis had very little calf pain; I ran a hard and strong 12-miler; I was able to wear shorts; I had no freezing hands like last Sunday; I think I'll run strong next Sunday with the 10-miler race I'm doing; My confidence is high; I *think* I can run a 1:45 half marathon "sometime" this year; and I bought Dennis donuts at the gas station and I only had a bite. Yes, it was a great day!

12 miles run
about 8:20ish average pace

1 comment:

Dennis said...

It was a great run Jill and fun. You were running strong the whole way. Here's a link to the Garmin 405 Data

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1782729