Went to the summit of Pikes again today. Brad joined me; plan was to get a little bit of intensity in. Met up with a few other folks, but all in all the summit was desolate when we got there.
14:26, 14:06 for the top mile. Compared to the 15:30's on Sunday, I'll take 'em. Supposedly, that's what a 2:17 feels like. I can't wrap my head around that. Still, Matt went sub-12:00 on Sunday for the same stretch.
It's encouraging to see improvement over the same stretch in the course of less than a week. I doubt it's because of increased fitness. Could it be that physiological adaptation at that altitude works that quickly? That seems like a stretch, as well. Maybe it's psychological. Whatever the case, I'm feeling somewhat confident that I've got a quick time in me - and hopefully two - next weekend.
Noakes often talks about how the central governor impacts new runners. They go from killing themselves one weekend to run 25 minutes in the 5k. The next weekend they run 20. He contends that there is no physiological way you could improve that much in 7 days, and that it is ALL about the brain coming to terms with what you are doing (mostly that you are not going to kill yourself).
ReplyDeleteSo are you calling me a 20 minute 5ker or a new runner?
ReplyDeleteAll because I put you down for a 4:42, eh?
Sean - no napping at treeline this year, okay?
ReplyDelete