TITLE: Easy, Unlike a Sunday Morning
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: October 01, 2007  7:33 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
... with apologies to
<A HREF="http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Commodores/Easy-Like-Sunday-Morning.html">
   The Commodores</A>.

It is not often anytime, let alone during marathon training,
that my Sunday long run is not focal point of my running week.
This week was different.

First, it was a recovery week that called for only a 12-mile
long run.  That always shifts more of my attention to my in-week
track sessions, which this week consisted of two 10-milers:
Wednesday, consisting of 8x200m repeats followed by 5 miles
at marathon goal pace, and Wednesday, consisting of 7 miles
at marathon goal pace with relatively fast cool-down laps.

Second, I decided to run a 5K race on Saturday.  On tired legs
from the two track workouts, I had low expectations.  But I
figured the race vibe would be good for me, and besides I could
find out how much speed I had after a week of running.

My result was unexpectedly good.  I finished in 21:26, which
was my 3rd fastest 5K ever and fastest since 2005, when I ran a
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-06.html#e2005-06-11T12_22_39.htm">
   20:50 in June</A>
and a
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2005-12.html#e2005-12-12T17_52_06.htm">
   20:44 in December</A>.
I even "medaled", finishing second in my age group.  And I even
felt good at the end -- could've run more!  A good day.

Sunday's 9 miles was anticlimactic, a nice breather as I head
into my stiffest week of the year: 60 miles that ends with a
25-miler next Sunday.  That will be a regular Sunday.

I woke up this morning to find that Haile Gebrselassie had
<A HREF="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/09/30/bc.marathon.worldrecord.ap/index.html">
   shaved 29 seconds off of the marathon world record</A>
on a flat course at the Berlin Marathon.  2:04:26 requires
a phenomenal pace for 26.2 miles, about 4:45/mile, which
is almost incomprehensible to me.  I'll keep working on an
8:30/mile pace and shoot for 8-minute miles on a great day.
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