Hard Work

I feel like last week wasn't the kickass starter week that it should have been, largely because I didn't do the prescribed long run and because I failed at the tempo run. If it isn't clear, I really want to PR the Athens half-marathon. Badly. But that's going to take work, like tonight's planned speed work:

1 mile - warmup
1 mile - 9:25
.5 mile - recovery
1 mile - 9:25
.5 mile - recovery
1 mile - 9:25
1 mile - cooldown

I find that daunting. That's between 6.7 and 6.6 miles per hour on the treadmill, which is where I will be attempting this workout. I just don't think that I am capable of this.

I am also not capable of predicting my time on a 4-mile trail race in snow and ice. Yesterday's prediction run turned out better than I'd predicted, but definitely not a speedy 4 miles. I predicted 50:xx and ended up with 46:25 -- always better for my psyche to run faster. It was really nice out, actually -- low- to mid-30s and clear -- so I wasn't cold or uncomfortable. I had a little left leg pain (I wanted to say hamstring, but I don't really know what's causing the pain), but it wasn't bad and it was temporary.

In the meantime, welcome to what I've been listening to nonstop since yesterday:

I know this isn't the original, but after much research (um, yesterday), I think Buckley's version is the best. KD Lang's comes in second.