Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hard to be fast when you're lazy


Today's run (street): 2.5 miles at 9:35 per mile

Things felt a little off today as I began my run. I had no complaints about the weather and I didn't feel particularly tired. I just didn't feel in rhythm with the process, either physically or mentally. Although this was my first run after a rest day my legs felt inflexible and heavy. It was almost as if  I was wearing ankle weights. The other analogy that fits is the feeling of being tethered to a weight that inhibited my speed. I tried to up my pace a couple of times but overall I defaulted to the rate I could sustain. Fortunately I've had enough experience running by now to know that unsatisfying runs sometimes happen and that bad runs are often followed by good runs. I'm hoping that will be the case tomorrow.

After a few weeks of very good performance that followed my receipt of two pair of lightweight Sauconys I have definitely moved back to averaging mid-9 minute paces. I want to break nine minutes consistently so I have to decide how serious I'm willing to get to add some performance training to my routine. Although I'm dedicated to my schedule I'm actually a lazy runner. It's rare that I push my speed during my training runs. It works for me because I almost always enjoy myself when I run but I also get frustrated with my lack of progress on speed. I read an article on Active.com this morning about using track work to gain speed that can be applied to distance running. I need to decide how serious I am about making a focused effort to improve. The only practical time to do that is on the weekend and I'm reluctant to give up a slot I reserve for longer runs. Perhaps I can do 20-30 minutes of running and then switch to speed work as the article suggests. Sounds worth a try.

3 comments:

  1. I totally understand! THat was me too today. Did some intense fartleks on my second half, but even then like lead!
    Cheers!
    http://runningfool-ootaynee.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Could not resist this post--saw the title and HAD to read it.

    I'm SUPER slow and pretty happily slow (well, esp. now that I've JUST started back running), but a friend told me (who was major runner) only needed one day a week to work on speed for it to help.

    It (for me) would definitely be a DURING the week run 'cause no way am I giving up my long run. Happy part of it is that it's QUICK, takes very little time, then you're DONE. Thanks for this topic, a timely reminder for once I get my legs back used to running. =)

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  3. I'm feeling like I should introduce some speed work, especially after two bad days of running in a row. I know it takes just a little time but I find that I never seem to find that time!

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