No speedwork Wednesday

I thought I would kick myself back into training mode this morning with a modest speed workout. I planned to do some 4-minute intervals using Lance Armstrong's Run Longer mix, as previously mentioned by Lisa. I thought it sounded fun, and I had downloaded it but not used it, or, for that matter, even listened to it yet.*

I wasn't sure how long the warm-up portion would be, and I didn't want to be in the midst of intervals when I reached my traditional potty stop, so I put my own music on for the first half mile or so, before switching to the other playlist.

I got to the (much needed) bathroom stop, and was well on my way again, without ever getting any cues to speed up from Lance.

I was beginning to think—and eventually became quite certain—that I had downloaded a version of the mix with just music, no coaching prompts.** Darnit! No speedwork today. Oh well.

I liked the music, though.

It wasn't long enough to take me through a whole run, however, so I had to restart it to get through an entire six mile run. I'm sure Lance could get through six miles in about 40 minutes of music, but not me!

It's probably just as well that I ended up waiting on the speedwork. I felt fine today, but my pace still wasn't up to par. Although I suspect that the Garmin was having some issues that contributed to inaccurate reporting in, at least, one segment of the run. In between a 9:29 mile and a 9:36 mile was one that claimed to be 10:30. I know for a fact that I wasn't feeling especially slow in that mile. I remember because I had been glancing at the watch a lot during that mile and seeing numbers in the 9:30 pace range, and so was quite shocked when the final time registered as 10:30!

Also in that very suspicious mile, Garmin claimed an elevation gain of 3,936 feet and a loss of 3,941 feet. Apparently I ran up and down a small mountain without realizing it! In comparison, on the big hill in Anacortes on Saturday I climbed and descended about 220 feet at the highest point.

Clearly, something was not quite right.

Glad the Garmin wasn't acting crazy on Saturday.***


*Which would have been a good plan, in retrospect.
**I'm going to try to find the Live Stronger mix with the coaching prompts, because I really would like to try it.
***By the way, I've downloaded my pictures and hope to write my race report soon, before I forget all about it.