Thursday, November 20, 2008

Running with no chain

A couple years ago I was on a Lance Armstrong kick and I read all of his books. In one of them he described an experience he had in training during which he felt so good that it felt like there was no chain on his bike. I had a running version of that experience this morning.

Today is my youngest son Tully's 6th birthday. So, I had to get my run in by 6:15 so I could get back home to make him his birthday pancakes. When the alarm went off at 4:15 I certainly did not want to get out of bed. But, knowing that I had not choice, I dragged myself out of bed and wolfed down some coffee before heading out the door for my bread and butter 9.2 mile loop.

I knew things were different today when I hit the first mile in 6:40. The 2nd one with a bit of an uphill I hit in 6:36. "Hmmmm," I said to myself, "I feel pretty good, I wonder if I can do the loop in an hour?"

Well, I finished the run in 1:00:20. It was as close as I'd ever been to an hour on that loop and it felt smooth and easy the whole way. The birthday pancakes tasted particularly good.

Sometimes running with no chain makes it all worthwhile!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

you better watch it - otherwise you might go under 4 @ WTC....

AJW said...

Thanks FastED, if I can get under 4 I may just finish before you head home!

BenB said...

I get so bummed when I hear you say "6:40 feels pretty good." Sounds like the snow hasn't hit up there in the mountains yet, enjoy it while it lasts.

saschasdad said...

Those urban p.r.s are the best!

Geoff said...

love the running with no chain analogy. i had one of those days last friday. it sure is fun.

Hank Dart said...

You need that speed to stay ahead of those cougars in the pre-dawn hours.

Brett said...

Hi - your blog is one of many I browse every so often. I have an off topic mostly bizarre question to ask you.

I just ran my first marathon about a year ago, and then in 2008 did a 50k, a 60+ mile ultra, and the Pikes Peak Marathon...which was the only race of the year with significant elevation change (26.2 miles with +/- 8000 feet). I am starting to think about a couple ultra races I can travel out west to again this year.

My question is this - a lot of people walk the steep stuff up and then run on the downs. In my experience with Pikes (having done the Ascent (up) a couple times) the up doesn't kill your legs, its the down that does.

Have you ever heard or seen a strategy in ultras to jog the ups and speed walk the downs?

Jeff Browning said...

AJW...

Yo, did you end up coming through Sisters to see the in-laws? Meissner and I were expecting you to show up for the Sunday run in Bend. You slackin', man?

jB