observation on speed

[how am i suddenly blogging twice a day here? it will end soon i'm sure; i suspect this is hysterical displacement activity, so as to avoid the thing i'm really supposed to be writing for work.]

tonight i ran four fast-ish miles. well, not really. i ran one warm-up mile, but i sped up throughout the mile and it beeped in at 8:50. so then i decided to run a fast-ish 5k. and i did! 3 miles at 8:28, 8:29, 8:30, and then the last .1 at about 8:20 pace.

so, that's not actually fast, but it's fast for me lately, and it's definitely fast for me when it's humid (it was dusk, and it was not hot at all, but it was like 80% humidity.) and it felt really good!

or rather, it felt really good during the 5k. it fairly sucked during the first mile -- i felt like i was running in concrete, like i was putting in tons of energy and getting back the cadence of a sloth. i ran the first half mile at a 9:20 pace, and then i sped up a bit and it was hell, and i did it a bit more, and then more. each time it was hellish to get faster, but then it quickly plateaued in hellishness, so then i thought i could speed up a bit again.

and then somehow around mile 1, it started to feel easier. and from then on, for the rest of the run: 8:30 felt like 9:30 usually does. what? i could kind of *cruise*, if out of breath, at an 8:30 pace. this is unheard of recently. how did this happen?

so i have a new theory, and it is this: to run fast, the first little while has to suck. maybe i have gotten too cautious with my 'start slow, don't hurt yourself' theory. maybe all i should run comfortably is like 400 metres, and then i should start speeding up. perhaps whatever pace i get myself into during the first mile or so is what will feel 'normal' for the rest of the run. is this nuts?

... obviously i don't think i can now run half marathons at 8:30 pace. but i am going to try doing my alleged 'tempo' runs like this, and see what happens. i did four miles today -- maybe i can do five miles like this next week? hmmmm.