A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

List Overflow




Positives about last night's tempo run?

1. It wasn't raining.
2. It was light out!
3. I hit below my tempo pace for several of the miles.

Not so positives?

1. My planned six mile run (one mile warm-up, four miles tempo, one mile cool-down) turned into a 5.3 mile run when I hit the the "lake" pictured above. That's actually a parking lot next to a lake. The lake just decided to expand after this weekend's rain fall.

2. I felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest for the entire run.

3. Although the temps were in the 40s, it was damp and overcast outside making it feel a lot chillier. So I still wore tights and a long sleeved top.


I decided not to run with the running group last night. I knew that running with them would help me stick to my tempo pace but there were several reasons I chose to go it alone.

1. I had my book club meeting at 7:30 (discussing my suggestion of The Brief History of the Dead. Everyone loved it, by the way.) Running group usually ends at 7:30. Since I haven't figured out how to be in two places at once I chose to run on my own and get done at 7PM. That gave me time to change before heading to book club.

2. My running buddy, Anne, told me last week she would miss this Monday due to a special event at her church. I didn't feel like running alone at the back of the pack. I figured I could run alone, well, alone!

3. I wanted to see if I could hit my tempo pace by myself. I feel like lately I've been using my various running groups as a crutch during my faster runs. Could I hold those paces on my own? Could I push myself even if I wasn't trying to keep up with someone?

Turns out that I can although I'm not as consistent. Strangely, when I run with the groups my pace graph is much, much smoother. When I run by myself it's jagged and all over the place. I guess this means that I'm still not so great at actually pacing myself. I wish I could figure out what a 9 minute mile really feels like and just get into the groove. Instead I'm always speeding up and slowing down over and over again. That can't be efficient!

Also, I don't know why it was so hard to breathe last night. I also had a mild side stitch and a little bit of intestinal discomfort. Was it the pretzels I ate right before I left? Was it the carrot cake cupcake I had at lunch (oh man, it was good)? Was it the cooler, damp weather? Was it the weird eating I did over the weekend? Who knows.

Oh, I also left the music at home again. I guess I just wanted to see if I could push myself without that, too.

************************


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:627 ft
Location:Forest Park, ILElev. Gain:+0 ft
Date:03/15/10Up/Downhill: [+104/-104]
Time:06:02 PMDifficulty:2.1 / 5.0
 
Weather:Mostly Cloudy
 47 F temp; 65% humidity
 47 F heat index; winds NE 13
Performance

Distance: 5.35 miles
Time:0:49:26
Speed:6.5 mph
Pace:9' 14 /mi
Calories:633
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
110' 16+1' 025.8-0.7+4 ft
28' 44-0' 306.9+0.4+10 ft
39' 15+0' 016.5-0.0-7 ft
48' 54-0' 206.7+0.2+7 ft
58' 52-0' 226.8+0.3-13 ft
end10' 06+0' 525.9-0.60 ft
Versus average of 9' 14 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think pacing yourself is SO, so hard. I used to do enough treadmill running that I think that helped me be able to tell what an 8 or 9 minute/mile pace felt like. But if I do ever start to run again, I'd LOVE to get a Garmin. I think it beeps or something if you are running "too fast" or "too slow" (I'm assuming you have to type in what pace you want?). Sort of feels like cheating, but how neat is that?

It's supposed to warm up a little here this week - so I'm sure that means it will for you, too! Mother Nature owes us.

Lacey said...

wow that is quite the photo of your "lake"!!!! well hey you got out there and ran despite some issues. running is so up and down (at least for me!) :) i think i will look up that book you mentioned. it sounds good!

kilax said...

I struggle with pacing too. I hate to rely on the Garmin, but I can't imagine not having it, now. How did I get by before?!!! Jeez! :P

I hope your breathing feels better on your next run!

Bayjb said...

Way to go running without music. I don't know if I could do that. I rely on that for SO much, running and non-running. Glad to hear you loved the book club book too! I haven't read that yet.

Anne said...

Hi Erin,
For the hills, I'm following the running room clinic and they suggest approximately 400 meters up and down total (an overpass with a sidewalk is usually good). We start with three this week and get up to nine total, adding one every week. :)

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