We're Going a Little Fast

So the running group met at the lacrosse fields in Berlin last night.  Both Chris and Lisa have a child playing lacrosse so it worked out that they could get their kids to practice and get the run in.  It was a chilly, windy evening.  My camera battery was not charged so I have no photos.  But the group was Pat, Mo, Michelle, Chris, Don, Lisa and me.  We ran the Berlin 5K course except we didn't go into the neighborhoods so it ended up being 2.36 miles.

Lisa and I started out chatting as we ran.  I knew that we were going fast and it felt good since I had some stress that I needed to "run out".  She looked at her Garmin and said "do you realize we are running a 7:45 pace?" and laughed.  I said "yeah...but I wasn't ready to complain about it just yet".  We settled into a more normal pace for me and continued to chat while we ran. 

I love talking and running.  I learn so many interesting things about people when we run together.  The whole run felt challenging to me.  Part of it was the talking, part was the wind, and the other part was the pace.  But if I am going to achieve my goal of breaking 2 hours, I'm going to have to put myself in situations where I'm uncomfortable with the pace.  It's the only way I'm going to get faster.  I have to get more speed work into my routines and I need to steadily increase the pace of my runs so that my body gets used to running faster.

I'm actually toying with the idea of running an 8:15 pace at the 5K this weekend to see how far I can last.  Typically my 5K pace is 8:45 although I don't know that I've ever really pushed myself to the limit on a 5K.  Because this Saturday's race is on the boardwalk, weather will be a big factor in how fast I can run.  If it's windy up there (which it often is), there's no way that I can expect to run 8:15.  So I guess I will play it by ear.

All I can say is that I have to continue to go a little fast in order to get a lot faster!