LSD - Week 1

So, it's been a few days since I've reported on the training. Mostly because it's been pretty status quo.

My LSD (Long Steady Distance) run on 7/3 went pretty well. My TP (training partner) and I set out nice and early, around 7:15. We decided to run the river frontage road that parallels I-70. The traffic for the first 1/2 mile was pretty annoying. Lots of gas trucks, water trucks, etc. getting to the access roads. After that it died down.

The first 4 miles felt pretty good and we kept a pretty good pace. Our goal pace was 9:33/mile. When we approached the turn around I picked up my pace to 8:21/mile and felt really good. I was very surprised because I haven't run this distance (all at once) in a long time.

My TP on the other hand was hurting pretty bad for the whole run. I felt really bad for her. I think she was still adjusting to the altitude as she had recently returned from vacation. Plus, she has this weird knee pain going on. We decided that we'd each run our own pace for the last 5 miles.

I got a little worried when I turned around, with 2 miles to go, and couldn't see her. My emotional responsibility was getting the better of me and I couldn't stop imagining her laying on the side of the road curled up in a ball and crying. I wasn't sure what to do at that point. Keep running and get the car and go back to pick her up, or turn around and find her. I wasn't feeling so fresh myself at this point in the run and I couldn't imagine adding another mile or so to my run if I went back to find her. So, I decided to continue on to the car and go back to pick her up. I ended up picking up the pace to about an 8:00/mile for the last 1.5 miles. I felt really good at that pace, but I know I can't sustain that for 26.2 (yet).

Luckily I found TP about a mile back on the road after I got the car. Poor thing! We came back to my house and hit the ice. That's a weird sadistic pleasure of runners after long runs. The recovery from this run took a lot out of me for the rest of the day. I was pretty pooped. But it was a good feeling - such a sense of accomplishment and pride.