Breakthrough Run

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Another beautiful day in Chicago today. Around 60 degrees and sunny. Must take advantage and get outdoors today and tomorrow. The weather this weekend is looking really crappy and I was thinkng about moving my 20 mile long run up to tomorrow or Friday. I am tempted to enjoy 20 miles in the warm sun instead of 43 degrees on Sunday with rain, snow, sleet, wind, etc. But, part of me welcomes the challenge of running 20 in the tougher elements. What should I do?

Yesterday's Boston Bound called for Yasso 800's and a cumulative 8 miles. I skipped the Yasso's and decided to just run. I did not really have any intentions when the run started. As a matter of fact, my legs felt sluggish for some reason. Maybe it was because I wore lose shorts vs tights. Sometimes when you wear tights they help snap your legs back. Maybe not having that is what made my legs feel sluggish.

After the first warm up mile things started to change. The legs started waking up. I had to come up with a plan at that point. I decided to run comfortably hard. I wanted to reach a pace that I could maintain for a while. Perhaps four to five miles. Well, what a run it turned out to be.

I had my fastest and best 8 mile run ever. I reached cruising speeds that surprised me. I was having fun. Even my average heart rate never got too high. At these paces I expected a higher heart rate reading. But, the lower reading makes sense for how good I felt while running.

This run was a new breakthrough for me. My only regret is not pushing a little harder in miles 3 & 8. I would have liked to seen 6 miles in the 6's.

Split Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Speed Max Speed Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:09:03 1 121 125 9:04 6:54 120 136 0 84
2 0:07:55 1 115 82 7:55 6:00 128 137 0 85
3 0:07:05 1 128 30 7:05 5:04 142 147 0 86
4 0:06:52 1 30 75 6:52 5:20 148 151 0 87
5 0:06:50 1 154 46 6:50 5:00 149 154 0 86
6 0:06:50 1 52 108 6:50 5:19 150 156 0 84
7 0:06:37 1 46 85 6:37 4:56 152 162 0 85
8 0:07:03 1 46 43 7:03 6:10 153 157 0 91
9 0:00:45 0.11 0 13 7:00 6:06 156 157 0 10
Summary 0:59:05 8.11 689 607 7:17 4:56 141 162 0 698



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" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin