The Same, But Different

This is the problem with comparing one run to another from week to week. Last Thursday, I did a 5 mile tempo run ending with an average pace of 5:40. Today, I did the same exact 5 mile tempo run, ending with an average pace of 5:41. So, at first glance, you could say that I'm the most consistent tempo runner in the world and that I have this workout mastered. Of course you'd be wrong.

The devil is in the details and really these were two very different runs. Last week the wind played a big part in the run, with a headwind for the first half of the run and then a tailwind for the second half. If you look at those splits from last week, it really was more of a progression run, with a 5:25 last mile bringing the overall pace down to 5:40.

Today was warm, sunny, and calm with no real wind to speak of. That helped keep things a bit more consistent, with all the splits within 10 seconds of each other (not perfect, but better). I finished feeling strong, although not particularly fluid or anything. Probably due to a late night softball game yesterday, I was pretty stiff for the entire run. The splits for the day were 5:42, 5:46, 5:43, 5:36, 5:40 with 9 miles total.

That’s running on the Chicago lakefront though. You really never know what you're gonna get until you get out there. Some day's the wind feels like it's gonna push you backwards and other days you hardly notice it. Small price to pay for what has to be one of the best running set-ups that any big city can offer.