Temp Down - Up Tempo

Man, lower the daily temp 10 degrees and I start to feel like a rock star. Since I am leaving town in the morning, I got my tempo run in today. My breathing was a little ragged on the first mile but I was pleasantly surprised by the 7:27 pace for the 3 mile warm up. When I got to the mailbox marking the start of the tempo section I tried to drop the hammer but it was more like melting the butter and I just kind of oozed into it. 6:58 for the first mile. I may not have stopped my watch while I waited to cross Oak Knoll because mile 2 clocked at 6:15. Of course I had another runner up ahead and I did have to catch him before turning around. When I went by he just said WOW! When I turned around and went past him again he asked me what pace I was running so I just shrugged and said about 6:15. I really didn't want to puke while he was in sight! Mile 3 6:25 and mile 4 6:32 (crossing Oak Knoll again). What really pumped me up was after the tempo section I slowed way down and just cruised home. When I retrieved the paces from my watch the 3 mile cool down was a 6:57 pace! And I wasn't even breathing hard!

I will be running tomorrow in Las Vegas after a 3 hour plane ride. That'll be fun, NOT. If there is time, maybe I'll drive up to red rocks and run at 6,000 feet. Saturday's run is the last Race Prep run for Team Rogue Portland. We are warming up for 2 miles then running 2 x 10 miles at 15 seconds slower than MGP and 2 miles back. So 24 miles with 20 at 7:30 pace. Assuming I behave in Vegas, this run should be a piece of cake.