Well, I usually do my workouts on Wednesdays but this week I would have to do it on a Thursday because of the travel schedule. I wanted to do a ten-mile progression run, meaning I would start off at an easy trot (7:30 pace) and gradually get faster each mile, with the last one hopefully being in the low 6s. However, since I don't own a GPS watch and I had no idea where I was, this was out the window. I instead mapped five miles away from my sister's house on the main neighborhood road and planned to run there and back.
I still wanted to start out slow and gradually increase the pace, but since I wouldn't know my splits each mile this would essentially just be another tempo run. I was out the door at 6:30 a.m., well before the rest of the house had awakened, and it was a muggy 65 degrees here on the Georgia coast. How appropriate that the road where I would turn around was called "Steeplechase Drive." I figured I could remember that. Now, had it been called "Marathon Avenue," or "Jason Turn Around Street," that would have been a little too weird.
I've never been good at running fast or pacing myself when I don't have an idea of my surroundings. Even when I run a new route in Charlotte, I always know how much further I have to go because I know the area. Not the case today. I started out a little too fast - I'd guess around 7:00 pace - and was feeling pretty good, aside from some slight tightness in the left leg. I got past the point where I had turned around yesterday and began to pick up the pace, still feeling a little tight but otherwise moving well. I'd guess I bumped it down to about 6:40 or better for the next few miles. This road twists and turns, and since there was no traffic, I essentially made tracks by running on the tangents to ensure the shortest route possible (that's how it usually ends up getting measured online, anyway). At one point the houses suddenly got a lot bigger and I noticed there was a nice golf course back here. I wondered if there were any diehards about to tee off on Thanksgiving morning.
I slowed down when I got to where I thought Steeplechase would be because I didn't want to miss it, and then picked up the pace again after I turned around. Not long after that, I started to feel a little tight and just tried to maintain for the next few miles. There is a large building with a red roof - some sort of lodge and spa - about two miles from my sister's street, and I began to look for that. I figured there was no way I could have missed it, so I slowed down some, thinking I had further to go, and this cost me a better average pace. I'd estimate I ran 7:30 or slower for about a mile and a half. When I realized I had already passed the lodge and spa I picked it up and was running pretty hard when I made it home.
After measuring the route again I determined I ran 10.24 miles at just under 7-minute average pace - 6:56 to be exact. Not blazing but probably right at race pace, so I'll take it.
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