http://connect.garmin.com/activity/149800875

After reading a couple of pages of "Running With Joy" by Ryan Hall, I was inspired to turn an already planned mid-distance run into a burner. The weather was absolutely gorgeous; high 30's, sunny and a steady wind from the south. I took the first mile in a mildly aggressive 7:55 and soon began to form a grueling workout on the fly; 1 mile w/up, 8-mile tempo, 1 mile c/d. In my hearts of hearts, I know I could pull this off given my current fitness, which I never give myself credit for. Sometimes, I just put my shoes and do the run without thinking about anything else, especially not what's providing me with such endurance and determination.

After the first mile "warm-up" it....was....ON! Clicked off an impressive 7:11 and 7:07 going up and down hills and bridges. I really attacked the uphills today, instead of being satisfied with just getting to the top and then working the downhills and thereby beating my hamstrings up. Once I got out onto the country roads and off the pavement, whoo-wee my speed was on display. Suddenly, going under 7-minute pace became almost too easy so I just rode the momentum as long as I could.

Started to feel the fatigue during the sixth mile, especially when going up the second of two bridges. Somehow, I held on and soon after I had another spurt of energy. I kept telling myself "Only 6's!, Only 6's!" I really wanted to stay under seven until the mile cooldown.

By mile 9, my legs were shot and I started to cramp in my left hammy. I reluctantly back off the pace rationalizing the workout as a 7-mile tempo. Well, at least that's what I thought until a few minutes and the need for speed came around again. I made one of the final turns for home and with one mile to go, I said "I'm gonna finish with a fury!" and that's what I did, running the 10th mile in 6:49 and feeling like a million bucks!

Some stats I'm very happy about; the first 8 miles were in 56:41. The "actual" 7-mile tempo was in 48:44 and the overall run was at a 7:07 pace, a good day indeed.