Run #16: SOOOOOOO Close!

"Missed it by THAT much..."

3.1 miles in . . . 30:01.

I could almost TASTE victory!  It just doesn't get any closer than that.  (Thankfully, I was only racing against myself, so I still came in first place.)


The goal tonight was to run for 30 minutes, doing the best I could to achieve distance.
The strategy was to run very fast for 9 minutes, walk very briskly for 1 minute.  Rinse and repeat three times.  (We'll call this the Lance method!)  ;)  I expected to run about 2.4 miles or so.

So, I ran the first 9 minutes at 6.5 mph, then dropped to 4.5 for a minute, then back up to 6.5, but gave out after 6 more minutes of that, and returned to the brisk walk, then after that just rode the speedometer all over the place, doing the best I could.  As I neared 30 minutes, it was starting to look like I was going to make it to 3.1 miles and actually make my ultimate goal with no problem . . . but then the math kept changing, and it looked like I wouldn't make it . . . so I sped up, and sped up, and sped up AND SPED UP until at the very end I was going 7.7 ridiculous miles per hour.

And I missed it by ONE SECOND.  Arrrggghhh!!

During the minutes I was running at 6.5 mph, I felt like the Six Million Dollar Man.  Not the part where he can run really fast - the part right after his space capsule hits the ground.  (I used to love the intro to that show . . . "she's breaking up, she's breaking up!" - great stuff.  Yes, I watched it when it originally aired.  I am SO old.)

At the crazy sprint at the end, I felt like I would die.  Now my right leg hurts again.

Bottom line: the modified Lance method seems to sort of work.  Basically, just push it as much as you can, try to ignore the clock, slow down when you need to, and then push it hard some more.  I thought consistency was the key; apparently the chaos of "interval training" is enough to fool my brain into doing better than expected.

But running is SO stupid.  On Friday, I am just going to take it easy and not try to set any records.  I earned it tonight ("one second short" or not).

The Music:

1) Wide Awake - The Dirty Guv'nahs (great song I just discovered)
2) Miracle - Jon Bon Jovi (from Young Guns)
3) Canto Alla Vita - Josh Groban (feat. the Corrs)
4) This is for Life - Luka Bloom (this was a poor choice, at least for this part of the run - I had expected the solemn catharsis of Bloom's condemned man to be inspirational, instead, it did not help at all)
5) Colonnade Gardens - Kerry Livgren (there's something about the guitar part of this song - so powerful)
6) I'm Gonna Miss You - Milli Vanilli (old school, man)
7) The Ghost in You - The Psychedelic Furs (80's!)

How do I feel?
Poopy as ever, sore leg, head pounding, exhausted. Glad it's done.  Pretty amazed at my stats.

I still hate running, I will still quit after Turkey Day, and I will still run again on Friday.  Very reluctantly.