Coffee and the Morning News

Mornin'

22:21. That's a nice number for today.

I'm sipping a fine tasting cup of coffee this morning. The label says "coffee" but the flavor is "PR."

Yesterday, at the Wheaton Rec Center, I hopped on the treadmill, ran a 10:00 mile warm up, then cranked it up to 6:58 pace. Lasted just a mile, but held on to finish in 22:21. Previous best was a roadrace 5K in 23:13.

Mathematically, it fits snugly into where I need to be if September 30 is my 'deadline'. Sept 30 is just a date, and I'm thinking to run 20:00 by then, I should be farther along, ahead of the trend. Dropping time will be tougher as I get closer, so averaging time:days might not work as easily as it does on paper.

How to compare treadmill conditions to road conditions is beyond me.

• Known strengths of a treadmill include constant pace, the treadmill moves for me, no hills, no rain or wind, always have a drink ready to go, always know my time and distance.
• Known weaknesses: no race adrenaline, no psychological chasing anyone (letting the guy in front pull me, so to speak), no finish line, not able to throw water over my head.

The times below are broken into decimals (28.5 = 28:30, and so on). My time yesterday falls between the August 11 22:30 and the August 16 22:15 I need to run in order to stay on the path to victory.

Actual
15-Mar 31.33333
22-Mar 30.1667
27-Mar 28.5
6-May 27.9
11-May 27.0833
21-May 26.55
30-May 25.3667
2-Jun 25.2
25-Jul 23.2167

Trend Required
31-Jul 23.00
5-Aug 22.75
11-Aug 22.5
13-Aug 22.35
16-Aug 22.25
21-Aug 22.00
26-Aug 21.75
1-Sep 21.5
7-Sep 21.25
14-Sep 21.00
18-Sep 20.75
21-Sep 20.5
25-Sep 20.25
30-Sep 19.9999

My calves and thighs ache, but I'll live. I'm hoping to run 4.8 miles with Rich and Lee and company this evening at a relatively easier pace (though these have been harder runs)

All I need to do is drop :45.48 a mile over 3.1 miles. That's all. This will mean three miles faster each than I have run one mile in a long, long time. I need to go from being intimidated by this to visualizing its reality.

I'm not sure how much of all right now is physical, and how much is mental. Long runs are still very demanding, as I am having trouble sustaining a sub-9:00 pace for anything over 5 miles. Physical issues remain - weight, aerobic fitness, pure speed. Mental issues might include relaxing (part physical), being confident in my pace, patience, and believing that I can sustain a pace longer than I presently do.