Today, there wasn't a 5km clinic to run with. That wasn't a surprise - Monick had warned me ahead of time, so I knew to bring my iPod and plan my own route. Something around 10km. Cold, wet, windy... maybe 8km would be better. Another runner, Dave flagged me down on my way out. He was looking for a similar distance. Now, Dave has been running for several years. He has longer legs and he is just plain faster. 2 min/km faster. That doesn't seem like much, but over 10km, he'll be finishing almost half an hour before me. I told him my usual pace (which surprised him for some reason) and he still wanted to run with me. I'll be honest - I groaned inside. I was looking forward to an easy LSD with my favourite playlist.
As it turns out, it was a bonus for me. Dave would push the hills, scoop me and come back. For me, it was a good incentive because I ended up running about 1 min/km faster than usual. For 9 km. We didn't do the full 10km. I was reminded how it felt to push. The lungs working harder, the legs feeling numb, the hunger afterward. At the time, you just want to stop. If you stop it will all go away. But you can't. You can't stop until you get to that pole. When you are done, you can look at your Garmin and realize that you've done better than any other run recently. I wouldn't normally run that pace without the guilt of making someone scoop me.
I thanked Dave for that run. He said it was a tough one for him too. I'm sure it was. Running slower is harder on the legs. The lungs don't burn, the legs do. It's like slowing down the reps on bicep curls: they get harder. He seemed to enjoy it afterward, but I wouldn't be too surprised if he keeps with the fast kids next Sunday. That's okay. I never did keep my date with my iPod.
Maybe I'll do up a quick pace playlist. Just to push a little harder.
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