Notes
Woke up early before the Iowa State meet to drive to Saylorville to do my long run into Des Moines. I wanted to hit the trail because at least most of the path would become familiar after all of the out and backs I’ve done on it when I’ve been in town for Drake Relays and other road races. When I finally got to the dam to park I realized that the path was still covered in a few inches of snow and ice. I wasn’t going to risk running even relatively hard on that surface so I drove the half hour back to the hotel in Ames and ran on the treadmill. Since this was the last real long run of the training cycle I wanted it to be quality. Did 6 miles easy followed by 5/4/3/2 miles with mile float between. I was in a good mental groove early and after pushing through the initial pace change the 5 mile floated by. I had it set to 11 mph (5:27/mile) since Johnny had wanted me to “keep it in my pants.” That would be right between MP and Moderate/Steady pace. The float mile was very easy dropping back off the pace. I wasn’t going to get crazy but I set each of the successive tempo pieces a tenth of a mph faster. 4 miles at 11.1 mph (5:23/mile), 3 miles at 11.2 mph (5:21/mile). I was getting tired but not straining to continue. I noticed how immensely strong I had become since even my last treadmill long run. I finished up the quality pieces with 2 miles at 11.3 mph (5:18/mile). I lost focus for a bit and drifted to the back of the treadmill and heard the squeal of one of my strides lip off of the rear roller of the belt. I quickly bounced back and was right up on the front display again. I spent the whole run in a staring contest with my reflection in the mirror set in front of the treadmill. In a strange way I was focused on beating myself. Looking at my reflection, noting points of weakness (a flailing arm or knocking knee) and fixing them in the moment, returning to a strong, confident stride regardless of pace.