Coming over to (the other) dark side

Night runs were working for me when the temperature was below 100 when we started to run. After last week's miserable long run cut short we unanimously agreed that might be the end of evening running. With high temperatures pushing 110 this week, that decision has been made. I've gotten up at 5am for my past 3 out 5 runs. The only time I didn't go early was my treadmill speedwork today and on a day when Jake was working and I needed to run. Mornings are harder to work into the schedule, but I'll figure it out until it starts to cool off a little. I'm not a morning person by any means, but having friends who are waiting for me has kept me accountable on those planned runs. I bought a headlamp a couple weeks ago for the night runs, but now I'm using it for the other time of day when it's dark!

Today was my weekly speedwork. My plan called for 5 miles with the middle 3 at half marathon pace. With a goal of sub-2, that makes HMP 9:09. That's not much above my 5k PR pace! I'm doing speedwork on the treadmill because even at 5am today it was 91 degrees. That's not conducive to hitting near-PR pace! Jake ran on the treadmill next to me. I pulled up Nicki Minaj on Pandora (great running music although not what I listen to the rest of the time) and got started with my first mile at 10:30 pace. Then it was time to get down to business. I punched in 6.5mph, which is technically 9:13 pace. I'm using an app on my phone that adjusts treadmill pace based on the incline you set. With my 1% incline, my adjusted pace was then 9:09. The first mile was challenging, but not nearly as painful as my 1 mile repeats last week. The second mile was challenging. I made a deal with myself that I could walk for 30 seconds once I finished 1.5 miles at HMP. Once I got to that point, I denied myself the walk break and bumped the mark to 2 miles. Once I got to 2 miles I pushed through, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The last mile wasn't so bad. I think that middle one was just tough because it was far enough in to feel some pain and not close enough to the end to see the light. My last mile was a nice, comfortable 11-something pace. I finished 5 miles in 50:20, without any walk breaks. I'm not sure I'm ready to jump off the deep end and declare my undying love for speedwork, but I'm learning that it builds my confidence and I love the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a run that scared me.