Tired of Being a Turtle

Last week I was in a complete funk about my running pace. I had a bit of an epiphany on Friday afternoon. I realized that I  never run races like races--meaning that I just roll along at my usual pace with no focus on time at all. So that might be part one of my running plateau problem. Part two is that I just need to pick up the pace and push myself with some speed work and tempo runs.

So Saturday afternoon, I found myself on a university track ready to run a 5k like a race. I finished in 34 minutes, which is faster than my last official 5k race, but not as quick as I would like. My Nike iPod chip tells me I averaged a 10:59 pace, which is faster than I usually run (don't roll your eyes at me you speedsters) but still not where I want to be.

Where do I want to be? At a solid 10-minute mile in 2011. I know, that's not quick either, but it's a pace I think I can live with. Ideally, I'd like to kick it up to a 9-minute mile or so, but progress can be slow (much like my running) so I want to keep things realistic. Needless to say, the treadmill and I have a date after work tonight.