Time: 8:30am, 60ish minutes

Where: Burke Gilman Trail: From Met Market to the Wall of Death and back

Workout: 6 miles, alternating 5 minutes hard / 5 minutes easy

Notes and Observations: I have a lot, and I suspect I will if I have to run for 60 minutes, like, in a row. Started off strong, my first hard piece was like floating down the path. On the way back I realized much of this had to do with the tailwind I was benefitting from. The headwind on the way back, for my last hard piece, made it, um, hard. But each hard piece felt great and not too difficult, which now makes me wonder if, even though I’m pushing and going a lot faster than I would if I didn’t have ‘hard’ on my mind, if I should actually be going harder. Found myself at one point forcing myself to go even slower during a recovery interval because I had absentmindedly picked up the pace. Overall I felt very good after 6 miles, and was pretty surprised when I hit 3 miles (my turning point), since I was feeling so good. Much better than after the 5 miles I ran earlier this week. This new plan is showing me that I can run faster than I expected. Case in point, this conversation I had with Kent on Thursday, after my 4-mile interval workout. Prior to this conversation was a text he sent explaining that I should accelerate for 40-45 seconds each lap.

Me: Maybe you can, but I can’t run 200m in 45 seconds. More like 60 seconds.

K: That’s an 8-minute mile pace

Me: No it’s not.

K: Yes it is.

Me: No. It’s not.

K explains the math, and of course he’s right. He’s been doing this running thing since birth or something. Incorporating speed into these workouts has been an eye-opener, seriously. I’ve done it with rowing, so not sure why there was that hurdle with running. I suppose it comes from having believed from the get go that I’m not a runner and therefore I don’t have to work at becoming better or faster at it. So, at what point do I decide that I am a runner? Still deciding.

So, that is what I’m thinking about as I chug along the Burke. That, and also that I need to upgrade my running clothes. I’m wearing a bunch of things I wore when I rowed, but now I need pockets. You don’t need pockets when you row. You are rowing, not listening to an iPod, or needing to hold your keys. So, pockets. I should get on that.

Music: Foo Fighters and The Killers on shuffle. Mostly Foo now that I think about it.

A fun action shot of my little runner:

“Run with me, Mommy, run with me!”