Yesterday's training schedule called for 10 miles at a 12:08 pace. For my usual trail running, this might be a little ambitious, but I thought it would be just a litte bit easy for the road. There I go thinking again!
It was overcast and about 37 degrees when I left home -- I'm off in my shorts and tank top, freezing my ass off for the first 3/4 mile but completely comfortable after that. The roads are pretty clear. My first 2 miles are on heavily travelled roads, and I have to pay a considerable amount of attention to traffic and properly crossing the road. There is definitely an adjustment from trail running! After the first bit, though, I find that I've picked a good route and the run is mostly flat with very light traffic. Oh, though . . . where the hell does one pee? There's no way I can run 10 miles without having to pee at least 2 or 3 times -- this is very difficult for a female to accomplish on a wide open road surrounded by 3 feet of snow. I just hunkered down and peed on the roadside, hoping no one came while I had my pants around my ankles. I lucked out!
I figured I could easily keep it below 12:08, and planned to run at a pace that felt comfortable, whatever that was, and if it was above 12:08, well, speed up. Here's my splits:
11:24
11:25
11:34
11:41
11:52
Just breezing along the first 5 miles, almost no attention to pace or anything, wow! I'm a rockstar!
12:01
12:01
OK, so now I'm looking at Gary the Garmin a little more, seeing all kinds of times, I guess I'm getting a little tired though I still feel good.
12:23
12:25
OK, so maybe paying attention to pace is a good overall plan, because it sure is slipping at the end! I try to speed up a bit, but am enjoying running slower more, and this is why I'll never be fast.
13:14
13:28
Yeah, so there's some hills in the last couple miles, especially the last mile. I suck at hills, though I don't actually hate them like I used to. I should do some hill repeats. This last, unavoidable hill on my way home will remain my nemesis all winter, and I plan on being able to run up it, nonstop, at a decent pace, by the time I leave the roads for the trails. Right now, slow and I gotta stop -- once!
Average Pace = 12:00. Does that mean I filled my goal of 10 miles at 12:08, or did I not make it because my pace wasn't consistent? I'm finding it interesting to train with paces in mind, because mostly I couldn't care less -- though a sub 5:00 marathon would be nice! It's also becoming more and more interesting to pay attention to how my body reacts to things and gaining more awareness of what I can and can't do.
What I CAN do is run 10 miles, comfortably and enjoyably and, dare I say it, easily. 3 running years down the road, and this still amazes me, although by now it shouldn't. I'm looking forward to my upcoming training and finding out if I love 20 miles as much as I love 10 (at whatever pace). I hope so!
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5 comments:
Don't you love when you can call 10 miles a jaunt?
Great job!
I'd say you fulfilled your plans to run 10 mi at the pace you wanted. Some people like to run even splits while others (like me) prefer negative splits. Great job getting out there!
NICE! I'd say you nailed it!
You TOTALLY made your goal. With eight seconds to spare even! I don't think I'll ever see the day of even or negative splits. I'm just a positive kind of gal. :)
Sweet! You met your training goals and had time to spare!
Now if you ask your coach he might say you should have saved the speed for the end. Usually I don't agree but lately I have been trying to do progressive runs (each mile is slightly faster) and WOW! It makes a big difference.
Mentally when I am done, I feel great! I feel like I could go more and I feel FAST!
Of course that is all in my head, but at least it is there!
Try it out and see if it works for you
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