| Easy Eights |
[Apr. 19th, 2015|03:02 pm]
kyle cassidy
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So, when Peter Sagal wrote "Time of the Ancient Mariner" in Runner's World in 2012, he talked about the difficulties of getting older and running and how, inevitably, you slow down ... unless ... you're willing to put in a monumental effort. That article talks about his monumental effort to set one final speed goal -- to fight back time -- just this once. It's a great article and I read it with interest. But in his marathon recap he talks about running "easy eights" for a while, meaning running eight minutes per mile (which I think is somewhere around 7.5 mph) and at the time I thought "Easy eights? Holy smokes, I'm trying to do easy tens." And Somehow that became a goal, to be able to run eight minute miles without effort.
In last year's Broad Street Run, I ran 8:22's and it felt awful the whole time, like I was pushing it and might puke. I later ran a half marathon in 8:20's and I'm hoping to run this year's Broad Street 10 miler in 8:00's -- or close to it.
This Sunday I did the 10km (6 mile) Donor Dash with a goal of running it in flat eights, no faster, no slower. Some running club buddies suggested that I was going out too fast and burning up and suggested I pick a race, pick a pace, and try and hit it like a machines.
And I did.
Donor Dash six miler in 7:58's and I felt great at the end.
So ... if the stars align, I think it's possible that I'll be able to do Broad Street in, perhaps not easy eights, but not exhausting eights. Peter also said something like "the goal shouldn't be to see how well you can do if you nearly kill yourself, it should be to see how well you can do without it being incredibly difficult" (I'm mangling his words, but something like that.)
I'd like to be faster, and I'd like to not look like a fish heaved up on the deck of a boat after I cross the finish line.
I fainted after my first Broad Street, twice.
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