Tempo Miles

Today I ran tempo miles, a workout that many coaches say is the best type of marathon training aside from the long run.  It improves aerobic endurance and fuel efficiency, and it teaches your body exactly what it will feel like to run at Marathon Pace (MP) of 9:30 per mile.  The first set in the training program always seems more difficult to me than any workout so far, and today's run was no exception; sandwiched between a mile warm-up and a mile cool-down are seven uninterrupted miles at what seems at first a relatively comfortable pace and then becomes increasingly difficult.

After the first or second mile I begin to wonder, "How can I ever keep this up for 26.2 miles?  It will be all I can manage today to run 7 miles at this pace!"  (Of course, the difference is that I ran mile repeats two days ago, and I still have only a month of increasingly difficult workouts to go.  And I am not tapered and ready to go.)  Surely it is a confidence builder to be able to complete this workout, and in addition to its physiological benefits it also teaches the new runner, and reminds the returning runner, how to focus for such a long distance.  Of course, those long, long Saturday runs do that, too, but they are at a much tamer pace, and often include chatting with friends, walking hills, returning for Gatorade and water, and exploring new routes.  Other than passing Martha twice on the route as she ran her workout, I was alone, as indeed I will be on Marathon Day despite being surrounded by so many other runners.  One mile after another.  And suddenly I am halfway there, and then only two miles, then only one to go!

The results were as expected:  the first two were each 10 seconds too fast, then I lost focus and ran a surprising 9:49, finally deciding to take charge of things again and gradually inch it up to 9:36, 9:34, and 9:32.  "This is not the day to fail!" I kept saying.  "This is the day to say Yes!  Yes always triumphs over No!"  (It is amazing how profound such thoughts seem late in a hard workout.)  My last mile as I sailed across the final split was 9:19, and my average was just a fraction over 9:30.  And very satisfying to achieve.  I remind myself again that this is the hardest part of a marathon:  all the training that leads up to it, all the toughness that it builds, honing that sharp, sharp edge on the hard stone of discipline . . .