Best Tempo Run Ever

Today, a 6 mile tempo run was on the schedule.  I headed out to run in the small town of Chelsea.  It started sprinkling on the way there which did not make me happy because I do not like running in the rain.  The sprinkles stopped and started a few times on my way there.  It was just lightly sprinkling when I got to my parking spot.  I decided to go for it and hope that it did not rain any harder than what it was at the time.  I got really lucky because it just sprinkled on and off a few times.
It took me most of the first mile to get going and get up to speed.  I figure that anything under 9 minutes is ok for a tempo run.  I'm training for a 4:30 marathon so, really, anything under a 10 minute mile would be considered a tempo pace!  My first mile came in at 9:15.  After that, all miles were under 9 minutes:  8:45, 8:42, 8:48, 8:52, and a, how did this happen, 8:18!
I can't believe all the odd things that happened during this run!  About three-tenths mile into the run, a squirrel came running out and ran right over my feet; it happened so fast but I'm pretty sure that the squirrel jumped over my foot!  It scared me and I took a quick step back and stumbled a bit and watched the squirrel continue on to the other side of the street!  Just past 3 miles, on a dirt road, a bicyclist was coming toward me and he was drinking from one of those water bottles that attach to the aero-bars and I guess for that moment he wasn't looking at the road because he came toward me on the edge of the road and when he was right in front of me he looked up and he passed by me so close to my side.  Even funnier, as he was passing by, he said hello!  Just shy of mile 5, I enter a trail through a woods that is part of the Chelsea Wellness Paths and is on the hospital campus.    Just as I was coming out of the woods at the hospital driveway, two deer came running through the woods and very close to me made an abrupt stop and turned around to run away from me.  That really startled me!  Then, right after the deer, a Fed Ex truck was stopped at a drive that is for delivery trucks.  The truck was stopped so I thought nothing of it and I continued on.  Just as I was beginning to pass in front of the truck, I heard the engine start to rev up and looked and the truck was MOVING!!  I stopped and took a couple steps backwards and the driver slammed his brakes on; I'm not sure who was more startled: him at seeing me or me at seeing him moving!  On the final stretch of my run, just after climbing quite a steep hill, there were two little boys on the sidewalk on roller blades, they came off of another street and not up the hill I just ran up.  I said something to them about being hard to go uphill.  One of them said something about going fast and how fast can you go?  Next thing I know, I'm racing two little boys on roller blades for about a block!!  That's how my last mile came to be my fastest!  Well, that and toward the end, I really felt like I was slowing down and I was determined to not let this mile be over 9 minutes so I was really pushing.
I was quite pleased with my tempo run!  Next week, it's 7 miles and I don't know if I can keep that pace up for another mile. 
Yesterday marked 15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon.  I ran with my friend, Erika, on Saturday and she pulled me along at a 9:06 average pace for 8 miles!  Yep, that's a good long run pace for a 4:30 marathon!
Coming up Thursday is the annual Firecracker 5 Miler in Hanover, MI.  Erika and I are going to run decked out in red, white and blue! 

Tomorrow I have orientation for my new job!!  I'm going to be working in a hospital that has a unit where long-term ventilator dependent patients live.  That's what I do - take care of people on ventilators!

Runner Nerd
runs and dodges animals, bikes and trucks