Soulbuster I

This morning we did what is called a 'Soulbuster' workout, though most of the people who read this blog already know what that is and were there running with me this morning. For those uninitiated, it is essentially a long run with some 'added challenges' meant to test your soul and your fitness. Today's challenge involved 8 miles of 'downhill' followed by 8 miles of 'uphill' followed by 4 miles on the track at MGP (marathon goal pace). Well, there were some nice stretches of downhill throughout the early miles, but there were also some rollers. During the uphill section, there were some unnecessarily steep hills (both up and down) but overall was a good stressor for the legs.

When I say unnecessarily steep, I mean that the angle of the hill bordered on ridiculously steep to get the benefit of the training without injury. I'm not complaining because I'm wussy, I just question how beneficial some of the grades were to the overall training picture. Whatever...I walked up the worst sections so as not to aggravate my calves and pelvis.

On the track, my goal was to run my 'Nashville 'A' goal MGP'. I really think that I need to be training as close to 3:20 pace right now if I want to give myself a good chance to radically improve my fitness. Will I be able to run 3:20 at Nashville? Who knows? I've gotta give myself a chance, though, right? 3:20 marathon pace is 7:38 per mile, which was what 'tempo pace' was for me on Thursday. I was also unable to run a single mile under 7:45 at the marathon on Sunday, so I definitely have my work cut out for me this season.

Here's how it went...I took splits every 800, shooting for 3:49 every two laps.

mile 1 - 3:49.13+3:38.15
7:27.28 (3:15:28 marathon)

mile 2 - 3:45.60+3:47.22
7:32.82 (3:17:52 marathon)

mile 3 - 3:48.61+3:52.46
7:41.07 (3:21:27 marathon)

mile 4 - 3:54.35+3:50.15
7:44.50 (3:22:59 marathon)

The start was right on pace, but then quickly became too fast. I have no business going out at 7:27 or 7:32 pace when I intend to try 7:38. I'm not supposed to be placing limits on myself, right? Still, I was nervous about how that would feel later.

I got a little confused during miles 2 and 3 because I thought Steve was telling me to relax my pace. The 3:52, 3:54, and 3:50 800s at the end were due to my mind telling me to relax and due to the early pace that was too fast. What coach was really telling me was to push myself to the limit, and if I needed to relax a minute to come back and run fast, then that was what I should do (I think that's what he said at the end). I still pounded out some pretty good splits, and I'm stoked that the overall times were under 3:23:00 pace. By the way, the automatic entry time for the NYC marathon for women my age is 3:23:00, so hot damn I'm excited to have a workout that fast.

From Sunday to Saturday, I've only netted 80 miles (intended 90-100), but I'm glad to have some speed under my belt with fatigue in my legs.