Saturday, April 5, 2014

High winds and slow paces

 
Today's run (street): 3.1 miles

There was a point in this morning's run when I told myself, after calculating my final pace, to remember how windy it was today. I know from many track workouts how wind can restrict speed. I once ran 400's where my pace varied by over 15 seconds depending on which direction I was running. Today's run, in terms of perceived effort (PE), felt much harder than Thursday's, but I ended up running 10 secs per mile slower.

The purpose of today's run to was to maintain my targeted half marathon pace over the prescribed three mile workout. That's exactly what happened on Thursday's 3 miler, but I barely broke a 10 minute pace today. During the few times on this run, when the wind was at my back, I felt like I was moving. That made me feel good about my form. I'd like to be running the easy 3-milers at around a 9:20 pace, but I'm not there yet.

The Runsketeers are doing a long run tomorrow morning. For me it's seven miles, TPP is doing 11 and SIOR is doing 16. We're trying to coordinate our rendezvous so we can all run together. Between our different paces, start times and meeting points, it's an interesting math problem. The route we chose will be hilly (I'm told). Seven miles of that should help me make progress on my endurance, but I'm expecting to be sore by the end.

9 comments:

  1. Since you didn't ask, I think if you want to test your half marathon pace, you should do it on.....(drum roll) Tuesday. Maybe try running 4 miles with 2 at HM pace or 5 miles with 2.5 @ HM pace. Just my two unsolicited cents.

    And yes, I hope to see both of you at some point on the campus tomorrow, hopefully, next to me!

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    1. I haven't had a chance to ask! I've been doing speed work on Tuesdays, long runs on Wednesdays and tempos or race pace runs on Thursdays. Are you saying that I should follow your workout for my Thursday runs?

      We'll have plenty to discuss tomorrow. I'l do my best to grunt out my responses.

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    2. Yes, but today is Saturday and you did a race pace run. Save it for Tuesdays and then halfway in a few weeks introduce speed work on Thursdays. I think you're trying to do too much too soon.

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    3. Or if you're going to do a race pace run on the weekends, do it during our group runs!

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    4. I did HM pace for only 3 miles today, although I missed achieving it My strategy is to build stamina by introducing speed in small amounts (3 miles) while building endurance by running slower on long runs.

      I've been planning to bring more speed to Runsketeer runs once I've made more progress. The issue right now is if I run race pace for 2-3 miles I won't be able to get through the balance of the long run.

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    5. Running slow alone will not build endurance. The mileage increase does that. Don't do the race pace all at once, if it's too much. Try 800s (totaling 3 miles) with a nice, slow jog in between. Then finish with a nice, big bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, a 6 pack of Stella, and Seasons 1-5 of Sex & the City or Season 1 of True Detective.

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    6. Make that a bag of Terra chips, a pint of Guinness, and a season of 30 Rock and we're talking.

      I'll try your pacing workout in spite of your suggestion that I'd eat Cool Ranch anything or watch Sarah Jessica Parker.

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  2. My pace has totally slacked this winter, so I am using my first half of 2014 as a training run. Keep positive! You can do this!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Michelle! I definitely took the easy path this winter and now I'm rebuilding speed and duration. Using a half as a training run is a good idea because all the the other runners provide good motivation and distraction. You can do this too!

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