11 mph

Ran 7.2 miles, usual mid/low 7:00s average pace, finishing with a 6:40, a little slower than usual. First run on the Landice, went okay, very weird running inside my own home, think it'll work out, best thing is running shirtless, and no headphones, cranking the music, the thing wasn't even make a huge racket, no complaints from M.

But, was in for a surprise during the last mile, usually I crank it to a 6:00 pace then under, to like 5:37 (at best) toward the end. So I hit 10 mph (6:00 pace) and then up it one more notch and it goes straight to 11 mph. What the hell? What happened to 10.1 mph?? So the Landice folks figure if you can run a 6:00 pace then you can run a 5:27 no problemo?? I don't think so, that's a virtual sprint for me. I'm bumming now, since I'd also planned on doing half mile intervals on the thing which I try to do at like 5:44-5:54 pace.

Called the dealer, he looked into it and discovered, to his surprise as well, that the L7 Pro Sports Trainer model I got does indeed not support 0.1 speed increments after 10 mph. But fortunately it's just a function of the electronics, not the capabilities of the mill itself. So I could upgrade to the L7 Cardio which does not have this restriction, for another couple hundred clams. But what a drag, I'll have to think about it, I'll probably spring for it though, not being able to go 10.1 - 10.5 mph really cramps my style. Caveat emptor. Good thing is that I'd only need to exchange the control panel itself, no big re-delivery hassles.

Tough being a consumer, eh?

Good news is the shin seems not worse for wear, better even than after the 65 minutes on elliptical day before yesterday, wondering if elliptical is no better or even worse than running sometimes, and starting to think my problem is more muscle tightness, careful massaging and heat seems to help. If I'm gonna have a shot at my May marathon, I really need to get the mileage up, especially the long runs, I've still only done three 12-13 milers, and a few 10s. Will try for 10-12 tomorrow, on the Landice, nutty to go that far on a mill, but I'm too much of a grape a the moment to face the extreme cold, and the mill and I are still on our honeymoon.

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Yesterday was fun going to see my niece, G, run in the "states" indoor track meet. Haven't been to a track meet since high school I don't think, and never to an indoor one. Very exciting, surprised at how organized it was, races going of like fireworks, bang bang bang, one after another. Some wicked fast kids there. G placed second in the 600m with 1:38. Her teammate won the mile with a 5:13 — her award "ceremony" was only slightly marred by the sight of a boy who placed second or third I think in his mile race, puking his guts out into a garbage can near the announcer, nice :-)

I remember feeling about that bad in my very brief and mediocre high school track career. The half mile, I really should've been coached into the 2 mile, the half was too freaking intense for me. I so remember that feeling of being dragged along with the pack thinking "oh crap, are we really running this fast?", and then the feeling around that last 220, hamstrings locking up, lactate acid, like in a dream, can't go any faster, working hard just to maintain, dying and slowly, and hyperventilating uncontrollably after. Only ever managed a 2:19, not too hot, but memorable for me anyway.

But what a great life experience for many of these kids, those among the best at their respective schools, to discover at these meets that there are a bunch of kids, from beyond, a whole lot faster than they are.

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"The trick is living without an answer ... I think ..."