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Tempo of Tempos

September 13, 2018 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Set up around 9pm after a not leaving my apartment literally all day, and something in me was just ready to RUN. I knew as soon as hit the pavement that my body was capable of going long and fast, so I turned on strava on my phone to track my pace and also a favorite short story podcast to distract myself since I didn't have anyone to pace me. The main road that runs past my host family's house runs mostly downhill for 5 miles until it unceremoniously ends at a junction near a mosque and some Soviet looking apartment blocks. There's an even bigger downhill then to reach the river, so much down in fact that it becomes hard to convince yourself you're gonna make all the elevation up again during the last half mile. Coming back through toward the heart of Sarajevo there's a wide sidewalk along the main boulevard for a couple miles, then a bike trail along the Miljacka River (a wonderful hard Bosnian name to pronounce), and finally Wilsona Boulevard closed to cars at night and full of walkers, bikers, and rollerbladers even after 10pm. These are the easiest miles in terms logistically with a well-paved surface and no cars to worry about, but by this point in the run I was feeling pretty mentally beat down. Still, I kept telling myself that I if gonna try to motivate you all to run your best, then I gotta practice what I preach. If I commit myself early on in a run to keep up a strenuous pace the entire 12 miles without taking a break, then so long as I'm not injured I had better damn well keep my promise. And so, motivated by the desire to be a good a role model (and some uptempo dance beats courtesy of Shakira) I plowed ahead down the boulevard, flying past baby strollers and young couples on benches, sailing into the night.

The last few miles were a bit of struggle, not only because I was tired, but because I had to keep switching sides of the street in search of a good sidewalk and occasionally detour around cross-traffic. After Wilsona boulevard ends, there really is not ideal place to run, but I think the route I chose was one of the worse options. You can't run as fast when you have to watch you footing, and what's more, I was distracted from focusing on my pace. During the podcast miles, I managed to find a good balance giving 80% of my attention to the story and 20% to keeping up a good pace. Now found myself often putting the running on autopilot, which is fine if you're in a pack, but by yourself usually means you're slowing down without realizing it. Still, as I approached the final hill up to my house family's house, I found a good song that I really liked and just set it on repeat. Once I started up the hill, I knew the way and there was little traffic or navigating to distract me. I just had to get up a freaking half mile long hill as steep as Battery Kemble. Fortunately, I've been walking up this hill every day since I moved in Sunday, even jogged it a few times with a backpack on when I was late, so it didn't seem so intimidating. When I finally neared the top above the Muslim cemetery from the last war just before the highway, I put on a burst of speed and finished in fine form, hitting the crest of the hill the by Turkish cafe perched on a cliff right where I'd started Strava from right at the 11.5-mile mark. I then jogged around the neighborhood half a mile to cool down, taking in the gorgeous view of the city.

11.5 miles at a 6:49 pace. One stop to tie a shoe at mile 3. Not bad!

Next time I want to be faster. Still, I'm really glad I kept my promise to myself and completed what I set out to do. Feels really satisfying to have pushed myself in this way; there's no feeling in the world quite like that sense of accomplishment.