A.M. Big Workout. Ran the warm-up with Ted, Adam, and Jeff. Stopped at 3.5 to visit a bush, Ted and Adam went on, as Ted was on a tight schedule and they were not doing the workout anyway. Jeff and I did our standard 6.2 warm-up, and started the workout at the end of the official Provo River Trail gate as we usually do. The workout was Ted's idea. I asked him yesterday if he had any suggestions on something that would not run Jeff into the ground. He came up with something that had the potential of running me into the ground as well - 2 miles in 10:40, 3x1 in 5:10, then 2 miles faster than the first time around. I modified it a bit - made it only 2x1 instead, and made a bit of a leeway on pace. Also, if 5:20 pace did not feel right on the 2 mile interval, back off to 5:25 or even slower. Jeff had had only 3 hours of sleep, so to make things easier for him, we made the 0.5/0.25 lead trade off on the first 2 miler. Ran it with a slight net uphill, mostly from 1.5 to 1.75 (0.5% grade). Nearly perfect pacing - never more than 1 second ahead or behind at any of the checkpoints. This is with me cheating and checking the split every 200 meters (0.125 to be more exact). Got 10:40.0. Jogged 0.5 untimed, very slow, then ran the mile. The target was 5:15. Jeff took the first and the last quarter, I handled the 0.5 in the middle. Started out right on target, 1:19 for the quarter, then I pushed it a bit during my turn, and Jeff kept the pace during his - we ended up with 5:09.4. This section had a 0.5% down grade from 0.75 to 1, but it also has places that slightly roll, which would make it still slower than perfectly flat. Jogged 0.25, slow, untimed. Another mile the same way. This time we ran more even and a bit slower, got 5:12.2. Jogged 0.25, slow, untimed. Jeff was getting tired, so I suggested he should run just the first mile instead and pull me through it. He did a good job, we hit it in 5:18, and I thoroughly enjoyed drafting behind him, it was almost relaxing, as much one could possibly relax that late in the workout and at that effort. Then he was done, and I was left alone. Being alone made the pace a lot harder. I hit the next 0.5 in 2:41. Now try not to lose ground on the uphill quarter. Managed 1:21, now the 5:20 guy caught up to me. To hold him off, I picked up the effort, and ran the last quarter in 1:19. This gave me 10:39.2 for 2 miles. Cooled down to make the total 15.04. Interesting events: passed our favorite farmer with the dog named BINGO again, twice. Some background for those not familiar with this inside joke. My kids used to listen to a tape with BINGO on it, so the song got firmly ingrained in my head (being raised in Russia, I did not grow up with it). One time during a tempo run it came into my head, and that seemed to do a nice job keeping the neural drive going and helped me sustain the pace. Then this year during the Del Sol relay my teammates asked me if I wanted them to do anything for me during the night leg. I asked them to sing BINGO around mile 2. So around 2 AM somewhere on a country road near Scottsdale, AZ Paul, Jon, Clyde, Dan, and Dave Nelson got out of VanGoGo and did the gig. Since then, the song kept popping up in various contexts. Paul told me during the 30 K in Ogden he had BINGO in his head. I knew I was in trouble. Now every time I do my Big Workout, often trying to get my brain to fire with BINGO, I pass that farmer-looking guy riding a bike with his dog.
Then on the last 0.5 of the workout I saw the Fast Running Mommy again. She looked like a blur by that point, but I nevertheless recognized her and waved. She ran 5 miles in 48:10. P.M. Ran with Julia in the early afternoon. She was supposed to do an easy 0.5 run, but after a quarter in 2:40 she said she wanted to do a mile. So she hit the next quarter in 2:13, followed by 2:10, and 2:12. This gave her the time of 9:15 for the mile, a 42 second PR, and the family record in the 4 and under age division. The previous record of 9:32 was being held by Jenny. I was very pleased with Julia's initiative on going the distance, picking up the pace, and exhibiting a degree of mental toughness above her age. She was breathing pretty hard the entire time once she picked up the pace after the first quarter, but was maintaining a good rhythm nevertheless like a mature elite runner.
I dream about being 90 years old, looking at the IAAF top rankings in the distance races and seeing the name Pachev all over. Today when runners see the last name of Rono, Ndereba, or Bekele on the start list, they become seriously concerned even when they are not recognizing the first name. When I am 90, I want them to feel the same way when they see my last name. Not so much that I want the glory, but I want to demonstrate the power of one, how much can be accomplished by being consistently productive, challenging the false dogmas without questioning God-given laws, and reaching out with faith for the seemingly impossible. Today we got one step closer. Ran with Benjamin in the afternoon to the soccer practice (2.12 in 17:53 for him, I was about 40 seconds faster due to a bathroom stop in the middle), then back with Jenny, she got 12:37 for 1.5 then rode in the stroller the rest of the way, I got 17:06 for 2.08, then I was running late to a church meeting, and ran 0.12, actually made it before the meeting started. It is amazing how much difference relaxed running makes over relaxed walking for me even over such a short distance.
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