It’s tough balancing training, family life, and work. I desperately wanted to save workout #1, week 3 for later this week because it is supposed to be warmer toward the end of the week. But because of family obligations I had to go today.
Today was supposed to be a 4 mile tempo run. I wanted to test myself so I chose a flat course instead of going up and down Washington like I normally do. After work I drove to Koke Mill Medical Center, changed in the car, and took off running heading south on Koke Mill Rd. It was 16:30 and FREEZING. The temperature was 22 but it felt a lot colder.
My 2 mile warm up ended at the entrance to the Wabash Trail. From here I ran down to Sonic and back at “tempo” pace. Instead of doing tempo I opted to test myself and turn it into a sort of time trial. Probably not the best thing to do considering the temperature, oh well.
The 4 miles went by really slow. I was in agony the entire time. I so wanted to stop or walk. It was tough. Heading east was not that bad but by the time I hit the turnaround I was exhausted. Heading west seemed to be colder. It might have been because I had a slight headwind or the fact that the sun was going down fast.
My lips and throat were numb even with my heavy breathing. I thought to myself, “this is riderous”. I thought of that Andrew Gold song “Lonely Boy” as I ascended that small bridge over Chatham road. There was no one around; I was cold, lonely, and in agony. I guess I miss my training partner.
The end of the trail didn’t come soon enough. I stopped the clock with an average pace of 06:53 for the 4 miles (06:51, 06:51, 06:53, and 06:56).
The run back to Koke Mill was a nice warm down, cool down, or freeze up. What ever you want to call it. 8 miles of running for the day’s workout.
Once back to the truck I changed back into my work clothes and picked up my Mom. We headed to meet the rest of my family at Buffalo Wild Wings at 18:00.
It was substantial reward to be able to wash the pain down with a couple of Bud Selects and some wings. I opted for Spicy Garlic this time.
Weekly Total: 11 miles
