I did not want to get up and run today, let alone work on speedwork. I was tired and seriously contemplated staying in bed. Our sons alarm was going off though and since he sleeps like the dead, I went in and woke him up. since I was up, I then started getting ready to go out.
I did my typical half mile warm up walk and then jumped into my run. This week called for 5 miles but less speedwork time, so more mileage on the front or back end. It consisted of 1 mile warm up jog, 1/2 mile at 4:52 pace, 1/4 mile recovery(repeat that 3 times) and then 1.75 mile to cool down. I was feeling sore after 4, so I elected to cut the run short to preserve my muscles and legs for the race on Saturday. Then I just walked the last 1.4 miles home.
I managed to nail all of my 1/2 mile speedwork. It helped that a tired brain miscalculated the mile pace I was aiming for. I thought that 50 plus 50 equaled a whole minute, not the actual 1 minute 40 it was. So while I was supposed to aim for a mile pace of 9:46, I thought I was aiming for a 9:04 pace. I was booking it and it was hard but I did it! I pulled off a 4:32,4:38 and 4:31 respectively for those half mile segments. This left me with an overall average of 11:02 for the whole 4 miles. Not too shabby!
At one point, my chest was hurting and I thought I might just have a heart attack right there on the trail. So i looked at my heartrate, say that it was in the 160s and told myself that it wasnt possible lol. It really is amazing what our bodies can do.
I cannot wait to see what I can do for time in the race on saturday. I am down a significant amount of weight since my last race(I think at least 20 lbs) so I should be able to fly! Things that IM still pondering are what pace to go, what should i eat if anything and will my occasional sideache flare up. I think I just need to run :)
Well keep on running folks,
Mrs. F
Showing posts with label speedwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speedwork. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tempo run 7-28-10
Todays run comprised of a 1 mile warm up jog, 4 miles at tempo pace of 10:51 and a mile cool down jog. I can do a 10:51 fairly easily, the challenge comes in maintaining for that long of a span.
I got up around 6 am and discovered that I had forgotten to charge my mp3 player. I knew that long of a run without music would drag on and on, so I decided to charge it while I got ready to go, figuring some is better than none. It lasted til almost mile 5 -- so that was good!
Starting myself out, I kept having to slow myself down during the warm up. I ended up with 11:42 for the warm up. I knew i had many miles to go yet! Again, I had forgotten to set a pace alert for my garmin, so it was a bit more challenging to keep an even keel. The 2nd mile was in a 10:50 pace. It felt pretty good, not too hard, heart rate stayed fairly low. Although at this point, Im realizing in in for a long haul! My main focus was on staying below the 10:51 pace marker, if I was running 9:45, then so be it, but as long as i was under.
The 3rd mile felt the best. I really found my stride and was able to just run mostly without worrying so much about my pace. No real aches or pains at this point, just running. Dont get me wrong, this was definitely a "work" run but at times it felt good to just get out and run fast. I did that segment in 10:33.
The 4th mile wasnt without its challenges. My side started twinging -- with some concentrated deep breaths, I was able to keep the major sideache at bay. I was feeling a bit nauseous from the smells and running hard -- so I ended up stopping once cause I thought I was going to be sick. Another stop to tie the shoe. Just generally harder mile. I still managed to pull out a 10:59 pace for that segment though.
The fifth mile felt more challenging as well since I was starting to get tired. I didnt get to bed before 11 and 6 am rolled around far too quickly this morning. I knew though I wanted to finish strong, so I pushed myself a little harder. My side is still twinging a bit, so more deep breathing. Somewhere in this mile, the mp3 player dies. After that, the run seemed to go much slower. Probably due to the fact, I was concentrating on the distance! I decided i wanted to sprint the last tenth and pushed it into gear. I finished that mile in 10:28!!!
The last mile was hard. I was sore, tired and my mp3 player was dead. So the mile dragged on and on and on and on. At times I convinced myself to run faster -- not because I wanted the better time -- it was because I would be done sooner. I tried to speed up the last tenth but I had little energy for a full on sprint. I did get my time up to 10:40 but I couldnt push any harder than that. I finished that mile in 11:41.
Surpringly enough, I feel great now. My muscles arent sore at all. After some of my long runs, they have been really sore. So I expected that maybe this run would do it as well. The only thing bugging me is my sunburn from monday!
Im getting really excited for our race next weekend! Im still pondering how I should run it. It was far simpler when I didnt know as much and just ran. Now I wonder if I should do a negative split, or run the first mile slightly faster or run an even pace. Way too much info to wade thru on the topic.
Weight check will be early this week, due to leaving to visit family on Friday morning. The scale is being kinder to me today but time will tell on that front.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
I got up around 6 am and discovered that I had forgotten to charge my mp3 player. I knew that long of a run without music would drag on and on, so I decided to charge it while I got ready to go, figuring some is better than none. It lasted til almost mile 5 -- so that was good!
Starting myself out, I kept having to slow myself down during the warm up. I ended up with 11:42 for the warm up. I knew i had many miles to go yet! Again, I had forgotten to set a pace alert for my garmin, so it was a bit more challenging to keep an even keel. The 2nd mile was in a 10:50 pace. It felt pretty good, not too hard, heart rate stayed fairly low. Although at this point, Im realizing in in for a long haul! My main focus was on staying below the 10:51 pace marker, if I was running 9:45, then so be it, but as long as i was under.
The 3rd mile felt the best. I really found my stride and was able to just run mostly without worrying so much about my pace. No real aches or pains at this point, just running. Dont get me wrong, this was definitely a "work" run but at times it felt good to just get out and run fast. I did that segment in 10:33.
The 4th mile wasnt without its challenges. My side started twinging -- with some concentrated deep breaths, I was able to keep the major sideache at bay. I was feeling a bit nauseous from the smells and running hard -- so I ended up stopping once cause I thought I was going to be sick. Another stop to tie the shoe. Just generally harder mile. I still managed to pull out a 10:59 pace for that segment though.
The fifth mile felt more challenging as well since I was starting to get tired. I didnt get to bed before 11 and 6 am rolled around far too quickly this morning. I knew though I wanted to finish strong, so I pushed myself a little harder. My side is still twinging a bit, so more deep breathing. Somewhere in this mile, the mp3 player dies. After that, the run seemed to go much slower. Probably due to the fact, I was concentrating on the distance! I decided i wanted to sprint the last tenth and pushed it into gear. I finished that mile in 10:28!!!
The last mile was hard. I was sore, tired and my mp3 player was dead. So the mile dragged on and on and on and on. At times I convinced myself to run faster -- not because I wanted the better time -- it was because I would be done sooner. I tried to speed up the last tenth but I had little energy for a full on sprint. I did get my time up to 10:40 but I couldnt push any harder than that. I finished that mile in 11:41.
Surpringly enough, I feel great now. My muscles arent sore at all. After some of my long runs, they have been really sore. So I expected that maybe this run would do it as well. The only thing bugging me is my sunburn from monday!
Im getting really excited for our race next weekend! Im still pondering how I should run it. It was far simpler when I didnt know as much and just ran. Now I wonder if I should do a negative split, or run the first mile slightly faster or run an even pace. Way too much info to wade thru on the topic.
Weight check will be early this week, due to leaving to visit family on Friday morning. The scale is being kinder to me today but time will tell on that front.
Keep on running,
Mrs. F
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