A steady steady

I became our pacer tonight, as K. was working and the other pacer was out of town. So B. and I hooked up, and since I had my Garmin (she didn't even have a watch!) I was designated the pacer. Now, I run at a 5:45 to finish pace, and B. is with the 4:45 group...this was going to make for an interesting steady run. Once we understood the difference between a Tempo and a Steady run, that is (steady should be a recovery run, and should feel like you could run all night, as per Garrath). We set off, on our usual 10km route, which is was nice and sunny the whole time , so there were no worries about us running in the woods alone. I tried to keep B. and myself at a steady pace, but B. is a fast little runner (her PB for a half is about a half an hour faster than mine!) and I found myself pushing it pretty hard to stay in pace with her. My heart rate says it all, as I was 157 by the end, or in the 90% zone. A tad high for a "recovery" run, but finished it at a 7:23/km pace (or 2 minutes faster than last week). Did manage to burn through 800 calories!

Our speaker tonight was a nutritionist, who really had a hate on for caffeine...I was going to ask what she thought of chocolate milk as a recovery drink, but I felt so bad for enjoying my multiple cups of coffee which I erroneously don't immediately replace with litres of water! Oh, and she'd hate the fact that I only get 6 hours of sleep a night, instead of the 8 "you absolutely must get". Wow...guess that's why I loves the caffeine so much! In fact, for my 8 hours, I should have been in bed, and asleep, 42 minutes ago. Oops... She did give us some recipes for protein bars that I am interested in trying. I'll let you all know the results.

Typical day, food wise. Oatmeal for breakfast, leftover polenta for lunch, plus a bowl of soup from downstairs, and dinner was salmon salad on a bagel. Oh, and coffee...lots and lots of coffee!

I did go shopping at lunch, as I really needed new runners...it's amazing how fast the kilometers add up. I picked up my new faves, Asics Gel-Cumulus. And they're red, which means I'll run faster!! I also came home with new socks, and a new top may have somehow made it's way into my bag...odd...oh, and gels and recovery stuff for Sunday's run.

George HEARTS shoe boxes...I barely had time to get the shoes out before he was in!

Okay, I must get ready to go to bed, and at least aim for 7 hours of sleep...it's almost the weekend (yay!) and I for one am ready for it.

Later,