No, I'm not cooling down - this is my 5k race pace!

We had another great workout at FAST last night. As is my new custom, I arrived early so I could get in an extended warm-up (2 miles). Then Bekah (our lone coach for the night) delivered the good news about our workout. It was to be a progressive run, similar to what we do on Monday nights, except, for the final mile we were to run an all-out 5k race pace. So, a little different than the typical progressive run.

I think I did pretty well on this run. There are some ups and downs, but mile over mile, the pace does increase nicely. The last mile was definitely challenging. But whilst I was huffing and puffing along at my zippy (for me) 9:01 pace, sweating (like a pig, of course) and most likely looking very red in the face, another runner had the nerve to run up beside me and ask "So, are you on your cooldown now?" I would've given him an evil glare, except that I just didn't have any energy to spare for facial expressions. So I responded, between gasps for air, "Uhhhh, no, *pant pant* this is actually my 5k race pace..." To which he responded, "Oh, so how many laps do you have left?" And I was thinking, Really, dude? Do you really think right now is a good time for a conversation? This all took place in my 2nd to last lap, and you can see I did slow down a bit on that one. Thanks a lot, chatty-fast-runner-guy - you totally blew my pace! :-P

Of course, I'm not actually blaming him for anything - I found the situation rather amusing, actually. In the same way I can't fathom being able to run 5 or 6 minute miles, some runners can't fathom NOT being able to run 5 or 6 minute miles. We are all different in our abilities and goals. But the common denominator is we all love to run and are all striving to improve.

So without further ado, here's my run graph from last night. (Click to see it big)


Peace. Love. Train.