Tempo Cafe in Chicago
Leading into this morning’s run, I had been feeling a bit fatigued. It could be the end of the month blahs, but tired nonetheless. With no race scheduled until late January 2010 (1st leg of NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix Series), I see no reason to push it senselessly. Yesterday was a rest day and I intended today to be a brief tempo run to wake up the muscles ahead of tomorrow’s LR. Prior to becoming a runner, whenever I heard the word “tempo” I always thought of one of my favorite diners in my hometown of Chicago. Before moving to NYC, we made a number of “runs” to Tempo … probably why I tipped the scales at 225lbs back in the day. Comfort food, hmmm! Thought I would give a shout out to Tempo Café!
Heading out to the park, I felt surprisingly rested. I have not been sleeping well, but last night was a pretty good night … strange dream about an old boss/mentor, but I digress. We did eat pasta and meatballs last night. Therefore, maybe the carbs helped fill the glycogen tank. Anyway … I ran 3.2 miles along the Bridle Path on a beautiful, crisp morning (61*, 61% humidity). Clearly, the weather gods are subscribing to amarathoner.com and read Wednesday’s post.
Except for the warm up mile, my splits were on the slow side of 10K pace: 10:01, 8:53, 8:43 and 8:42. Not certain how I feel about that pacing. At 10lbs. heavier, far less running and race experience, I ran a 23:52 5K in February (7:41 pace). Today, I basically ran the equivalent of a 5K at sub 9:00 mile (normalizing for the warm-up mile). Time to rationalize: (1) while I wanted to step up pace this morning, I had no intention of running at a “race” pace, (2) ran on trails this morning vs. asphalt in February and (3) I have not dropped the hammer and tried to run at 100% since the Father’s Day Race Against Colon Cancer in June. Yep. Those sound plausible to me. I’ll go with those reasons.
I need to start scouting around for a local running club. NYRR lists a bunch, but like anything else, I need to find the “right” club for me. I’m competitive, but not psycho (but getting there quickly). I’m not fast, but I’m not slow either. Most clubs offer a free weekend run to get to know fellow members. I’ll need to get in the mix.