Stroller Speedwork

I deemed it too hot yesterday afternoon to attempt to finish the rained out run from earlier in the day, but thankfully, I got done early with class last night and was home by 8:30. So, I quickly got in my running clothes and headed out at 8:40 to finish up that 1.6 miles I had remaining. I told Jerry I'd be back in 15 minutes. Not only was I true to my word, but I was even a few seconds ahead of schedule: Obviously, running by myself affords me the opportunity and ease to be a bit faster, but as I was running this short run last night, I thought about my slow speeds with the stroller and figured that in some part, I'm just being lazy with my pace when I run with the stroller. Granted, it IS harder pushing a jogging stroller -- with Norah, it adds about 40 lbs of resistance that I'm pushing (although, the BOB's design is so good that it doesn't necessarily feel like you're pushing that much weight); however, that doesn't mean I can't work hard on some runs to pick up the pace. Besides, about 90% of my runs are with the stroller, so if I can't figure out a way to do some speedwork with it, then I'm never gonna fit it in.

So, as I finished my 1.6 miles last night, I resolved for my morning run today that "picking up the pace" would be this run's primary goal.

Generally, with the stroller, I have been running a 10:30 min/mile pace. So, before we headed out this morning, I decided I wanted to aim for an average pace of 10:00 min/mile, which would mean really making an effort to move my ass.

In the first half a mile, I was chugging along at the standard 10:30 pace, but I was running in to a headwind and I figured a half a mile's warm up was necessary (my hammies have been a little tight the past few days). But after that initial half mile, I tried to consistently pick up the pace and in each mile I was a bit faster:

Mile 1: 10:24
Mile 2: 9:58
Mile 3: 9:47

Total time: 30:12

Average pace? 10:04 min/mile. 4 seconds slower than I was aiming for, but c'mon, see that 3rd mile? That's a speed-demon pace for me and the stroller! Overall, I was happy with the run, and I proved that I can go a bit faster with the BOB, so I guess that means that I need to make such an effort a more regular part of my weekly runs. Clearly, speedwork can be accomplished at the helm of the stroller, so I don't have any excuses to avoid it.