Last weekend at The Half and this morning, my left calf started "tweaking" when I got down in the mid 6 min pace. Dalton and I were pushing 6:30s for a while this morning and then I started to "tweak" in my right calf. I stopped for a minute and stretched and we were able to keep going at a strong 7:15 pace.
What I am finding is that my body (and calf) are happy above 7 min, but when I get into the 6 min range, I risk pulling/tearing. Dalton thinks that is my body saying "hey dude, you are not a 6:30 pacer yet, time to slow down." She also says that over time, these micro injuries are just the body's way of building to that next level.
That is music to my ears, because I want to be running mid 6 pace comfortably and injury free next year. For the next three weeks going into the Marathon, I am gonna keep it over 7 min pace and not test it. After the Marathon, I am going to start doing much more speed work and see if I can build out those mid 6 min muscles over the following 4 months leading up to Austin. I have a feeling that the SMU track and I will become close frenimies.
This will be an interesting next saga in my running journey and should teach me a ton about "grabbing that next gear."
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