During the middle 2 miles of our 4-mile tempo run up the West Side Highway with the Nike Pacers, I thought Now this is a quick pace I can maintain. This feels good. I was relaxed, but I was moving at a clip. My breathing was accelerated but not labored, and if I needed to pick it up a little, I would be able to do that. It was the sweet spot, where I was light on my feet yet still working up a good sweat. I was, as DT’s chirping Garmin told us, at the perfect speed and effort for a threshold workout.
Often, in running, there is a reason why certain miles feel harder than others. It isn’t just that we are tired and slowing down. Sometimes there is a hill, or there is heat. Tonight, Mile 4 felt harder because the pace picked up by 17 seconds. Of course, I didn’t know this until Little G flashed the split. In the moment, I had to do an awful lot of concentrating on form, breathing and motivation to not fall too far off the rest of the pace group.
These were my splits: 8:21, 8:10, 7:59, 7:42. I don’t know if the goal of this workout was to get progressively faster, or if the pacer just sucked at his job. (I thought tempo runs were supposed to have more even splits. I was with the 8 minute per mile pace group.) All I know is that last mile had me feeling like a woosie up until the moment I realized how fast we were going.
But isn’t it always the way? In running as in life, it’s never clear how hard we’ll have to work to get through any given moment until we’re actually in it. Understanding of what exactly we just pushed through doesn’t come until we are in fact through. In a little bitter twist, understanding doesn’t necessarily make the struggle easier.
In any case, I lived to tell the tale of tonight’s speed workout. There was the black ribbon of the West Side Greenway. There was the crescent moon on our way back. There was the silence of the pack as we trotted beneath the West Side Highway, traffic rumbling overhead like a coming storm. It wasn’t so dramatic after all.
6.85 miles run in 61:24. Average pace 8:57; fastest mile 7:42; slowest mile 10:45.
Pigtails Flying 
That was a good workout. Progressively faster for a tempo run is better than starting with a 7:42 mile and going the other way! Your last mile wasn’t that much slower than your 5k race-pace, so you were running fast. Maybe a bit faster than threshold — not that there’s anything wrong with that.
i like your comments about life. i think being a runner, and now even training for the marathon are helping me feel better about the change in my life right now.
i know we’ll have to work hard and hustle, but for an indeterminate length. so slow and steady. break up the run, pace yourself.
life lessons found in the best places.
Good workout! You survived!! I used to go to the Nike runs and workouts a few summers ago, while i could actually get out of work on time to make it, they were always fun! Maybe one day I’ll make it back.
Lots of wisdom in your observations about the struggle. One of my favorite life/running mantras that I read to myself every morning is, “Its ok not to know what’s going to happen next, and whatever happens, you can handle it.” Marathon training provides a constant and powerful reminder that we can’t control the future.
Seriously, TK, you just totally blew my mind. I need you to be my life coach.
Also, sick speed, sister! Nice run.
Nice writing, Tavia!