12 Mile Tempo

Ran a 12 Mile tempo workout today. Out and back to Cherry Creek Reservoir.
it was a nice day, sunny around 60. The wind was up from the south though, I could tell it was going to be hitting me in the face on the way back. I left around 12 (with DST kicking in last night).
The plan was 3 miles easy, 6 miles up tempo and finish with 3 miles easy.
I started out a little faster than "easy" but I felt good, ran the first 3 miles in 23 minutes

When I got to the 3 mile mark I turned it up. My right calf was twinging / tugging a bit and I pretty much felt it the whole 6 mile up tempo part. I stopped briefly at the porta-potti, used it, had some gu and a good water break. I ran that 3 mile stretch in 21:11 to the turn around point near a bench by the lake. That was exactly what I wanted. So far so good.

I turned around and the wind hit me, which I was expecting. I had to buck the wind through the next 3 miles, occaisionally turning out of it, I ran the 4th mile at 7:15, then ran the next two at 7:36, I was disappointed I was not under 7:30 for those two miles, so I ened up running this 3 mile streatch in about 22:27.

I stopped and had a long water break and another Gu and looked at the snow capped rockies and contiplated on my slow 3 mile stretch. Then I ran the 3 miles back home. I really did do this stretch easy, it is uphill and I finally turned out of the wind. 23:30 for the final stretch.

Total Time was 1:30:41 for 12.06 miles (according to Garmin), a 7:31 pace.
To meet my goal in Moab in 13 days, I will need to run 13.1 in that time - 41 seconds, taking 35 seconds off my pace. Seems implausible, but that's my goal, maybe a good taper will help.

I had some alergy symptoms this morning, so I took my first Claritin of the year. I was well hydrated for this run and took some electrolytes and some sports legs before and during the run in addition to the Gu. My heart rate was pretty steady 160-170, with a max of 170 so I never did really push above the threshold. When I stopped at the 9 mile mark I did feel a little gassed that was when it reached the max.

After I got home, I walked the dogs a couple of miles and then washed by 4runner, it was so nice. My legs were sore. Later I took a nap and when I woke up there were sore kinda all over.

Not sure what I'm going to do next week, running wise. I think the priority should be to recover and get the kinks out and maybe try to run a strong Green on Sunday. I will see how I feel tomorrow and go from there.

Garmin Watch Data with HRM