When Life Gives You Lemons........

If there's anyone home at your place darling why don't you invite me in? don't try to bleed me,Ive been there b4 and I deserve a little more
I belong in the service of the Queen i belong anywhere but in between she's been lying and I've been sinking and I am the rain king

Rain King-Counting Crows

When I got off the trolley at 4.10pm in the pouring rain I could've been forgiven for thinking"it's been that kind of a week"......
Monday was scheduled as my 8x800m repeats to take advantage of my day off from work and hopefully circumnavigating the recent "access issues" to Geasey Field during the week......sleeping till 11.30am rather threw a spanner in the works to that plan but  the bigger sin would have not to have ran at all but thankfully I got my arse in gear and out the door to take care of an easy 8 miler
Tuesday was "off the books" as it was last day hanging out w/ my sister and bro in law b4 they flew home to London that nite,and while I don't begrudge an evening w/ my kin as it's an all too rare occassion it did mean I'd burnt one of my rest days already....
Wednesday saw me albeit belatedly take care of my repeats so in order to stay on pace I just needed to tackle my 8 mile tempo run on Thursday.....cue the rain!!!!

It may be two days after I'd just ordered my USA uniform for the upcoimg Worlds in Lyon but the man inside the uniform is still and always a Brit at heart and god damn it if running in the rain isn't in my blood,I always think back to my road running days when a good friend of mine who grew up in Belfast said "if I only ran on good days sure I'd never feckin run at all" and w/ that endorsement ringing in my ears I promptly stretched on the living room floor and picked a "conditions appropriate" wardrobe{no shades,sleeveless and shorts today John!!!} baseball cap,long sleeve half zip{the rain would wick off that better} and my 3/4 length bottoms,it was a tad chilly for mid May but even at 51  degs running in the rain in May at 51 degs is an easier sell than 31 degs in Feb or March!!!

I was cognizent my pace was brisk but somehow "spaced" on the mile and 2 mile markers,however my split at South St bridge was a brisk 12.54.
The colder damper conditions obviously kept the "fair weather" runners indoors which was fine by me I was very much a "man on a mission" today and was focused on the matter at hand,one plus of the rain and cooler conditions was no heat and humidity obviously which would I hope aid and abet my plan to notch my first sub 1.10 tempo run.
Forget what my 3 mile split at Lloyd Hall was but in the 27s so I was well on pace,the turnaround a mile later yeilded a 34.24.....it was there for the taking if I wanted.....and YES I WANTED!!!
Over the years I've kind of "fudged" the whole tempo run but somehow this year I've somehow managed to make it part of the weekly 5 day routine and hopefully come seasons end I'll reap the benefits of these at times lung busting 8 milers along the river and back.

I forget my 5mile split but I reached mile 6 in 53 mins,this is where missing the 2 mile split could come back to bite me,for shits and giggles if it was 16 mins which I suspect it was based on my pace then 1.09 was w/in my reach.
57and change at South St bridge sub 13 go me there outbound,it was gonna be close but I could taste it.
The all important 7 mile split 61.29 a 7.31 mile would put me at 1.09 an 8.30 mile would give me 1.09.59.....how bad do you want it?
Ironic given the rain I should coin the English expression "give it some welly"  as I hydroplaned my way up both Baltimore Ave and Cedar Ave,slowing only when red lites or cars forced me to and also giving some cyclist a bollocking for his flagerent abuse of the "No Turn On Red" sign at 45th & Cedar that's a pet peeve of mine at the best of times let alone when I'm homing in on a potential seasons best......and I WASN'T shy of letting "Lance" know the error of his ways!!!

I always treat the final 4 blocks like the last 4 laps of a race....which considering the 1,500m/mile is my"distance du jour" kind of comes naturally to me and as a rule after the 7 mile split I don't check my watch again till I finish,I had to hope I had the legs for it,on the final block I convinced myself there was more "knee lift and leg turnover" in my legs and as I reached the "finish line" in front of my front door I stoped my watch and observed the damage...................................................................
1.09.10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BOYAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a few weeks of near misses it was rewarding to break that sub 1.10 mark,the question is between now and mid September and the end of my season is how much lower can I go?????