Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Looking For a Tempo

Road Bike 29 miles
Run 10 miles

Yesterday:
Run 7 miles (hilly and snowy)
Bike 3 miles (commute)

Got in a mellow bike ride today before work and then tried to push myself into a comfortable tempo run after work. I ran the first 5 miles pretty easy (37:00) and then the last 5 I tried to push out a comfortably hard pace to see how that would feel. It never felt just right but I was able to bust that out in 30:00. I still have a lot of work before I feel "fast" but I was pleased that I was able to pretty comfortably maintain 6:00 mile pace for 5 miles. It was weird though, it didn't really feel all that hard but I also didn't really feel like I could go much faster. I guess I should expect little speed right now since everything I have done for so long has been at such a slow pace.

The cruise ships have returned to Juneau for the summer. I guess they've been back for over a week now, but since I was gone to Utah until Sunday night I had not been in downtown yet with a ship in port. Today though I ran right through that area while 4 boats were docked up. What a mess. When people get off these ships it's like they have no ability to function in a normal manner because everything has been so meticulously provided for them for several days on the boat. Running through these swarms of people I felt like I was running through a crowd of robots that were programed to move in the most unexpected ways. People standing in middle of the road. People walking 5 wide thus taking up the entire sidewalk. I even had one guy who mysteriously took a hard step to his left just as I was about to pass him on his left. I had to jump to my left to avoid a collision and I don't think he even noticed. Note to self: Do not run through downtown again until September.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wow. I don't think I could run even on seven minute mile...let alone knock out five of them at a six minute pace.

Watch out for the herds of tourists. Isn't it amazing what can set us off? For me it's cyclists that think they own the road and ride down the center on a highway when there's a perfectly good bike lane made available to them!