"I Want To Go Fast"

This seems to be becoming my mantra for running. I think this is okay, because I am just starting out in the season, and it is a loooooooong season.

Last night we had an "enjoyable" five mile run. It was the last of our easy runs before we started speedwork and hills on Tuesdays. I ran next to Lauren, another mentor that I've been running with lately, because we go about the same pace. (Side note...Lauren drops time like I do. Actually, she about doubles my drops. She has run 2 marathons, and in her second she PRed by 40 minutes.)

We started in the middle of the SanFrancisco pack and took the first mile to find our place. This took about 10 minutes. After that, we started running with the fast girls. When I say fast, I mean fast. To get an idea of how fast we were going, I will tell you that in the 5.32 miles that we ran, with the first being a 10 minute mile, my average pace for the whole thing was an 8:35.

When Lauren and I looked behind us at mile three, none of our group was left. It was just us and the three fast girls. "I feel like we are going FAST," she said. And when I looked down at my Garmin it read 7:42, which was indeed, fast. I was honestly surprised that we were still holding on a conversation at that point (although it was getting more difficult). Lauren and I decided to step off. And then, when we got to mile four, she decided to stop her workout because she had a horrid side stitch.

I was now on my own, and dropped the pace significantly because my legs felt SO HEAVY.

At the end, the fast girls were cheering me on. I told them that they were wicked fast, and they admitted that they usually do not run that fast. The rest of the little group that was still with us before mile 3 was right behind me. They commented that all of us were way fast. I'm glad they felt that way, because now I know who to run with to get my real (faster) pace. The girl who works in the LLS office said that she was impressed that there were this many people who could hold this fast pace in one marathon group (there were 8 of us) and that this would be good for training. Good point.

When I went home and checked my Garmin, I found that my pace pretty much ranged from 7:01-10:00, but that I pretty much stayed in the 7:35-8:09 range for most of the run.

My legs were TIRED last night, and I had NO trouble falling asleep. :)