Need for Speed Nampa Barefoot Lady Style

On one hand, at my age, I’m not nearly so concerned about what people think.  On the other hand, if someone is watching, it is likely to affect my performance.  🙂  Yesterday, I intentionally played around with that and used it to motivate me on a medium distance speed workout.  Here is what I did:[hr]

• I chose a familiar, semi-hilly route  (For those of you in Nampa who might be looking for good hilly running routes:  From Locust Lane, go up and down Sunnyridge Road, to Lewis Lane and back, then continue along Sunnyridge Road heading north to the greenbelt that leads up to Greenhurst Road across from Walmart, back behind Albertson’s until Meadowbrook, then up the 12th Ave South hill until the empty subdivision right before Locust Lane, through the subdivision until I hit Locust again, then finish on Ivy Drive:  total close to 5 miles.)
• Took the first mile at a comfortable 10 minute pace to warm up, which included some rough chip seal and the first couple of hills.
• It was time to begin my Fartleks, so…
• I significantly pushed the pace up the next couple of hills.  Only a couple of cars went by, but I could see them wondering about the barefoot lady trying to sprint up the hill.  😀
• I found I was having more fun than I thought I would!
• After allowing for some recovery time, I was inspired to keep choosing points (a corner, a sign) to run to much faster, probably averaging 50 yards of semi-sprinting (which is probably average marathon pace for elite runners….)  I think I ran about 6 Fartlek intervals all together.
• My dog was confused.
• My recovery pace didn’t end up needing to be super slow, except possibly when
• I ran one last, longer Fartlek at the beginning of the big hill on 12th Ave South, where there is lots of traffic.  Silly me.  That made the rest of the hill very long.  But I believe the many passing drivers were the appropriate mixture of smiling at my sprinting fun and pondering my insanity.
• Again, I stopped and slipped my Moc3’s on for the last 1/8 mile that is rough chip seal again.  It is always there, on the final road to home, so no matter how far I can run in bare feet, if I have increased speed or distance, I will probably need to give my feet a break for that last bit.
• Google Earth measurements were inconsistent, so I can’t tell  if I was running an average 9:30 or 8:45 pace.  Which ever, it truly felt great!   Who would have thought that a 51 year old lady could have so much FUN trying to be speedy!
• I see more Fartlek workouts in my future.  Hope the dog can handle it.