Hamstring Treatment - Week 12 - 8 Mile Tempo Run on the Treadmill

It was 12 weeks ago today that I ruptured in my right hamstring and was hobbling around the Breezes resort in Curacao. And in 10.5 weeks, I'll be in Boston running the marathon.

I'm still not even close to the speed I was before the injury -- but I'm getting there.

Today I was to do an 8 mile tempo run, where the first half of the run is at marathon pace and the second half of the run is at 30 to 45 seconds per mile _faster_ than marathon pace. Well, my 'marathon pace' to hit my target of 3:20 in Boston is 7:38/mile -- and I can't even hit that pace for one mile, let alone 4. So tonight, I just hit the treadmill with the goal of doing the first half at a moderate pace, and the second half at a pace that was stressing me a bit.

Because the treadmill needs to be calibrated and I know it is off by 13.1%, I ran so it read 7 miles as the distance travelled, which should equate to 7.92 miles -- close enough.

I was going to start running at 5 MPH, but it was actually too slow, so I ramped it up to 5.5 MPH on the display, which should equate to 9:39/mile pace in the real world. I did this pace for the first 3 miles, and then ramped up the pace to 6.5 MPH on the display, which should equate to a pace of 8:10 in the real world. I was working hard, but I could handle it for the half mile until I took a quick scheduled break at the 3.5 mile mark. From there, I ramped up the pace to 6.0 MPH displayed (8:50/mile in the real world) and I carried on for 2.5 miles and then I ramped it up to 6.5 MPH (8:10/mile real world) for the last mile. I was working hard, but I was breathing well and my head was still being held high and I had a bounce in my step, so I guess the pace was okay.

So, I'm making progress. Looking back to my 7 mile (displayed) run on the treadmill on January 12, 2012, I'm certainly faster for a sustained period of time. I knocked off the run in roughly 73 minutes -- a minute faster than on January 12 -- so while the progress isn't mind boggling, it is progress nonetheless!