Log #38: Crazy? I was Crazy Once.

Either I'm in really good shape, or I'm a lunatic... I'm really not sure which. I'm probably just dumb.

This week has been insane in terms of juggling work, concerts, Jewish holidays, and high school buddies. I was too tired to get up and cross-train yesterday, so I decided to do it after work. Of course, I had to work late, and I had plans that required me to be done working out at a certain time, so I only had 45 minutes to get to the gym, workout, stretch, and leave.

I FLEW to the gym as soon as I was done at work, and then hopped on a bike and started going. I decided to just go as fast as I could for as long as I could. As it turns out, I could go about 110 rpm for 40 minutes, with bursts of up to 130 rpm. Since I'm not a biker, I'm not sure if that's good or not, but it's way faster than I've gone on previous bike workouts and I felt amazing. I chalked it up to adrenaline.

Last night my buddy who I went to London with was in town. The thing about him is that he likes bourbon... nay... loves bourbon. I was hoping to keep the bourboning to a minimum last night, but my friend also has trouble with moderation. I managed to stay below the threshold of "drunk," but I definitely had a couple of glasses and stayed out until almost midnight. It was a fantastic, Guitar Hero filled time, but I knew it would throw off my run for this morning.

When I got home, I was reading through the Run Faster, Run Less book when I turned to the training program for a 3:20 marathon. If you've been following my exploits, you know that I have a tendency to run my speed workouts and long runs way too fast. It's hard for me to go as slow as the program tells me to. I noticed that my times are pretty close to the requirements to run a goddamn 3:20 marathon.

So I decided to try the LT run for that time today.

1 mile @ 8:12
4 miles @ 7:14
1 mile @ 8:12

I didn't even feel that gross when it was done. I only got 6 hours of sleep, drank bourbon last night, and have had the week from hell. Yet, I ran 4 miles at a pace that only a month and a half ago made me choke after 2 miles.

So, either I'm an idiot for pushing myself this hard, I'm crazy for thinking I can just decide to run a marathon in 3:20, or I'm in better shape than I thought. Strange, eh? I think I'll proceed with caution. Sunday is a 20 mile run at either 9:00 min/mile (3:30 training pace) or 8:40 (3:20 training pace.) Stay tuned.