Seriously, I hate them both. Sure pavement is great for getting around in the car or on the road bike and I guess a treadmill is a necessity if you have kids and can't leave the house, but other than that, I have trouble wrapping my head around the concept of clomping along, each step being identical to the last.
I went down to the Bolder Boulder office this morning to run my 2 miles on the mill and finally get my qualifier out of the way. I was hoping to get into the A wave so I could at least toe the line with all my friends, but after I did the math, I knew I would have to actually put in a few training runs on the track, pavement or treadmill to accomplish this. Oh well, an AA qualifier with no effort in my mind is way better than actually training in a manner that I don't like to get an A.
Going into the office, I felt ready to put in a good effort and accept whatever happened, but still harbored illusions of running two 5:43 miles with no specific training. I have done it before on the track, but for some reason can't seem to keep up with my legs on the mill. Not to mention I never feel motivated while staring at a wall indoors. I warmed up for a bit, testing a few different paces and cross checking with my HRM. 5:43 pace at first seemed tolerably fast, but I just knew that there was no way I could hold that. After my warm up, the lady checked my time/distance and I was off (at 1% grade to account for wind resistance).
I started off around 6:00 pace and immidiately took it down to 5:43. It felt fast, but my HR was hovering a bit below 170 which was reasonable. In just over a minute though, a mucus plug of phlegm built up in the back of my throat. I hacked and ugggghhhmmmed!!!!! a bunch of times, but it was like breathing through a fun straw. I struggled with it for a bit and then remembered the GZ/Team Snot trick and started casually hacking a clam and then acting as though I was wiping my nose and would deposit it into my shirt. Though it seemed like 40 minutes, I bailed off the 5:43 pace after only a few minutes and conceded that I just didn't give a shit about the A wave. Even at a pace in the low 6's (comfortable for me on a track with no training), my HR was slowly creeping up and I was very uncomfortable, mainly because I was on a treadmill and had a hack clam lodged in my throat.
FINALLY, I crossed my imaginary two mile finish line in 12:13, a far cry from the 11:26 I needed, but enough under the 12:25 I needed for AA. That really sucked. Afterwards, I was feeling itchy and tingly which only added to my theory that I am truly allergic.
I headed over to Flagstaff, where I changed into clean/dry clothes and ran up SuperFlag. I figured the treadmill work would make for a good warmup, but if anything, it threw me off just enough that I felt as though I just could only plod up the road. I started off easy and attempted to ratchet up the pace/intensity, but it just was not my day. I just figured I would cut my losses and run it easy, then enjoy the snow over to the summit of Green.
I topped out in a disappointing (but not surprising) 45:30 and then got on the W. Ridge trail to Green where there were only one set of hiking boot footprints. Though I was not moving fast in the fresh and slippery snow, I felt infinitely better mentally at least and felt like myself for a short while. At the 4-way, I passed a familiar face (turned out to be Jim P who was standing there waiting for a hiking buddy). We spent a few minutes on the summit chatting, then I carefully jogged my way down, trying to not twist anything in the very slippery snow. Below the Ranger Cottage, the snow had turned to ankle deep slush and I just had a blast sloshing through it (although for some reason, I hopped the creek).
2 miles on the mill in 12:13
Run up SuperFlag in 45:31 (avg HR 161(173 max))
W. Ridge 20:34 (avg HR 157(174 max))
Down Ranger/Gregory 28:40 (avg HR 132(159 max))
