Better Showing than Last Week

And that’s all I can ask for!

I’m starting to recover now, which is great. Today’s workout with Carleton/Simone: 25 minutes of threshold/tempo (forget what term is right?) — my 5:55 to 6:05 range. She’s been a little sick lately, and knowing how I’ve felt, we each told the other that there was a good chance we’d just do 20, rest for 1 minute, and then do the last 5, which was last week’s workout.

Side note about how FAST Simone is: Even though she’s been sick, she ran a 10:02 3K last Friday. WOW. She’s going down to Iowa state this Saturday to run a 5K against really good competition. I would not be at all surprised if she ran sub 17:10. There is this amazing “quickness” about her stride. She can make a really quick surge in these tempo runs – and it takes me 5+ seconds to respond and move back up to her. You can tell she just has that extra gear (or 2, or 3!), and knows how to fire into those quickly. It’s really fun to watch 🙂

Anyway, back to the workout. I made it 20 minutes with her. First mile: 5:55, 2nd: 5:58. I’m starting to work the last 3rd mile. We slow to 6:04 pace, so I tell her to go. I don’t want to hold her back at all! At 20 minutes, I’m losing pace quickly, so decide to take the minute rest. Great idea. I recovered quick and was able to hold 6:00 pace for the last 5 minutes.

We cooled down back to campus (the girls are really nice & fun to talk with, I love the company), and I went out for another 3 miles to get more mileage in. I added a few more up-tempo minutes (TRYING to mimic Simone’s quickness!), so all together I had 30 minutes of tempo or faster on the day. Best part? My legs don’t feel trashed! They feel like they worked, but a “normal” worked — not like they’ve raced a marathon and hit the wall.

So, I’m getting there! I think next week I should be able to hang with her the entire way. I am so blessed to be able to work with the team!! The Carleton women’s team is very close, and the head coaches are AMAZING. It’s so fun to have this to look forward to. And honestly, who gets the opportunity to chase after one of the top d3 athletes in the nation?!? What a PRIVILEGE! I can’t wait until next week 🙂