Starting a tempo

• Wed, Dec 16: Tempo runs. Got in about four 1-mile runs, at maybe an 11.5 minute mile each one.

So, now we're starting to do tempo runs. Funny, (or not so funny), I thought race pace was just what we had been doing so far. Or at least, I had planned to do just what I had been doing. Apparently not.

For this practice, we needed to run as fast as was comfortably hard for a mile, with only a 2 minute slow run for rest before we did it all again. I didn't know if I could do it, as I'm always afraid that I won't be able to last. But, I remembered Captain Robyn's comment about me being able to run faster than I thought. So I pushed, and instead of getting worried when I started and continued to breathe really hard, I thought: real pain, or perceived pain. And funny enough, I wasn't really in pain. It was effort, but I could keep it up. And yeah, I was still slower than everyone else and I wish I didn't have to breathe so hard to do it, but I kept up the pace for a mile. I was quite pleased with my effort this practice. So, go me! :)