Last-Minute Treadmill Tempo Run

Last week, I started off on the treadmill for just an easy 5.5 mile run.

At about mile 0.8, I thought "Well, I'm feeling OK... what if I crank this up at mile 1.5 and do a hard 5K? Why not!"

So with no prep, I cranked up the speed to 10.1 mph. That's not really tempo pace for me, but I wasn't planning on killing myself for this workout. (And if that's the case, is it REALLY a tempo run?!?)

I turned up the speed by 0.1 mph every half mile, so I was running at 10.6 mph when my treadmill hit mile 2.5 of my tempo effort. I was working, but not dying. I cranked it up to 10.7 mph at mile 2.8, and then 10.8 mph for the final 0.2 miles (at mile 2.9). I've had treadmill 5Ks be in the low 17:XXs before, and this one was quite a bit slower at 17:55.6. This pic is a bit blurry because it was at mile 4.8 (as I'm still running) after starting to run easy after the 5K at mile 4.6:

Arrows on the graph showing me speeding up from mile 1.5 to 4.6.


I think all the dips in pace are me wiping my face
(as treadmill pace is all by arm swing) - I never slowed up.

My half-mile splits were 2:58, 2:56, 2:54, 2:53, 2:51, 2:48, and a final 0.1 of 0:33 to equal 17:55. (That's approximate mile splits of 5:54, 5:48, and 5:39.) I'll take it easier this Friday, but then hopefully do something hard again next Friday!