Running Class Conundrum

Last night I had my third running class and I felt as though I really ran well, but nevertheless, today's class led to a bit of confusion.

The run we were supposed to do was a tempo run. A tempo run is a workout where you run about 25 seconds slower than your 5K pace. We did a four mile tempo run. I have been working under the assumption that my 5k pace is about 7:40 (reasonable given my 7:42 pace on the 5 mile run on Sunday). Therefore I imagined that I'd run the four miles at about a 8:05 to 8:10 pace.

I started out the run at a good pace and I felt good. But then I finished the first mile in 7:19! That was too fast for the tempo run. I tried to slow down and really get a good sense of what my pace should be. The coach told us that we were running too slow if we could carry on a conversation, but that we were running too fast if we couldn't get a couple of words out either. I was able to say a few words to the person running next to me, and so determined that I was fine. I felt I could run faster, but at the same time this wasn't a simple, laid back run. I ended up running the four mile loop (the same loop that we run in the park for races) at an average pace of 7:35!! This is much faster than I've ever raced that distance and really confused me. Does this mean I should be running my races at a faster pace? Maybe I could have run 7:30s in the father's day race had it not been so freakin' humid!!

My next two races are in July and I have a few speed workouts between now and then, not to mention a week of running at high altitude in Colorado Springs (I'm going to a conference). I'm hoping that when I come back and get ready for those races, I'll be in really good shape. The first of those races is a 10k and I won't be that fast for 6.2 miles, but the next race is a 4 miler and I expect that I could run that in under a 7:30 pace. That's my goal. The only slight problem is that I'm supposed to be running long runs on those days (check out my calendar below!) so if I run down to the park and then race, I'll be slower . . . but I can always tack on another few miles after the race . . . we'll see.

This morning I took a great early run along the river, getting 4.5 miles in before work. It is a cool, crisp, clear day. I was actually excited to get out of bed at 6 am and go running . . . I imagine that this is a good sign for my training.