After a pretty good-mileage week, with 34 miles of running and a 15-mile bike ride for good measure, this is going to be a very light week. I ran 14 miles on Friday; we rode 15 yesterday, and I ran a very hilly 10 today. This week, I'll be taking Monday and Tuesday off from running, and running only a single mile on Wednesday.
However, that mile will likely be the fastest mile I run all year. That's the plan, anyway. Wednesday evening is the Miller's Mutual Harrisburg Mile, which this year is part of the Michelob Race to the Ultra series, which means we're going to get athletes' favorite watered-down low-cal beer at the beer tent.
Last year I ran a 6:44. This year, my goal was to run finish in 6:00 or under. However, I'm not really sure how feasible that is. Not only did I not do any speed training (I'm sorry, I just hate it.), but I realized a 6 minute mile means that I would be running 10mph. I usually keep my Garmin set to mph rather than minutes per mile, and my speed is usually between 5.5 and 6.5, occasionally getting up into the low 7s or dropping into the 4s when I climb a hill.
6:44 is 8.9 mph, which is honestly faster than I thought it would be before I looked it up on this handy mph to minutes per mile chart. On Wednesday, I want to see if I can crank it up a little more than 1 mph faster and shave 44 seconds off my time, and I'm hoping fresh legs will help.
If I don't make it in under 6 minutes, I can't be too disappointed. After all, I didn't train at all. My backup goal is to get a new PR for the mile. Next year, I'd like to focus more on beating my 5K and mile PRs, but I'm sure I'll still dislike track work just much next year. I do have little bit of hope, though: hills. "Hills are speedwork in disguise", says Frank Shorter, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist who helped popularize distance running in the U.S. I've run up a ****load of hills this summer. Wednesday night can't come soon enough.
If you're thinking of running the Harrisburg Mile but haven't signed up yet, you can register online until noon tomorrow (Monday, 7/18). After that, though, you can still register in person. It's a fun race. It's hot, but at least it's over quickly and there's beer at the end.
As for low-mileage week, I'll probably run on Thursday and Saturday, taking it a little easy because of soreness (Thursday) and heat (Saturday) -- after a few gorgeous running/biking days, it sounds like summer will return with a vengeance this week.
I'm as filled with dread about this week's weather as I was filled with excitement about this past weekend's. When it comes to running I am so over summer. Good luck on your miler!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your race!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck! If this is the same mile race I did, I recall it was down Front street. It was like 98 degrees the year I did it and it was still a blast. They don't have the results from 2001 when I did it (Really? TEN years ago?!) so I will have to go spelunking. I think it was a 5:03. Regardless, have a blast!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the "good lucks"
ReplyDelete@RM -- I wanted to be all tough and think this week wasn't any worse than early last week...but wow. It is! It's still oppressive at about 11pm now.
@Wes -- Thank you! At least it's over quickly.
@Dane -- Thanks for the comment! Yup, that's the one! This will be my fourth running of it and it's usually hot or at least super humid, but I think this will be either the hottest or 2nd hottest one I've been in. (91, feels like 98, per weather.com) Even if I don't meet my pace goal, I think I'll be pushing the limits of how much 1 person can sweat in under 7 minutes.