Back At It
Just finished a nice little 4 mile run. Took yesterday as a rest day and ran on the treadmill today to give my legs a little more rest from Sundays Bloomsday pounding.
Ran 4 miles, three of which were negative splits.
Treadmill = 1% incline
Mile 1 - 12 minute mile
Mile 2 - 10 minute mile
Mile 3 - 9 minute mile
Mile 4 - 12 minute mile
43 minutes - average heart rate 151
My goal for the next three weeks is to practice finding that pace and heart rate at which I can go for long distances. I feel like my legs are heavy and slow for the first couple of miles, but then some kind of a break through happens, and it gets easier... at least for a while. Next week I plan on doing one 10 mile run in preparation for the 1/2 marathon. Mostly just to build confidence and monitor heart rates. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be my longest run to date.
Oh, by the way... I heard a great song while I was running. It is The Reason by Hoobastank. It's probably been around forever, but I've been really stuck in the 70's and 80's. When I get a moment, I think I'll post a list of my favorite running songs. I'm always searching for new songs to add to my play lists. I know most of the people who read this blog are also into music, so what do you say? How about you post your list also, either here or on your blog. I'll find it. I'm always looking to expand my horizons a little.
Ran 4 miles, three of which were negative splits.
Treadmill = 1% incline
Mile 1 - 12 minute mile
Mile 2 - 10 minute mile
Mile 3 - 9 minute mile
Mile 4 - 12 minute mile
43 minutes - average heart rate 151
My goal for the next three weeks is to practice finding that pace and heart rate at which I can go for long distances. I feel like my legs are heavy and slow for the first couple of miles, but then some kind of a break through happens, and it gets easier... at least for a while. Next week I plan on doing one 10 mile run in preparation for the 1/2 marathon. Mostly just to build confidence and monitor heart rates. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be my longest run to date.
Oh, by the way... I heard a great song while I was running. It is The Reason by Hoobastank. It's probably been around forever, but I've been really stuck in the 70's and 80's. When I get a moment, I think I'll post a list of my favorite running songs. I'm always searching for new songs to add to my play lists. I know most of the people who read this blog are also into music, so what do you say? How about you post your list also, either here or on your blog. I'll find it. I'm always looking to expand my horizons a little.
posted by Barb at 11:29 AM
8 Comments:
Ooooh, I love running music. I need to fix my iPod. What genre of music do you like? chances are I have some run mix in that genre.
as for pacing... heres my thoughts. i always try to think of a goal pace i want to run for a race. and from there work my splits backwards, but keep the increments nice and small, so i never have to start too too slow and then work too hard above my goal pace later. you know? i am learning to do this more logistically now as opposed to just trying to get my brain to do it, but thats just me.
so lets say i want to run a 3 miler in 9:00. I'd let myself run a 9:30 for the first mile, the 9:00 for the middle and an 8:30 for the last. And if I don't think I can do that, I'll change it to a 15-second interval over the 30. Still spread it out a little. But i also way overthink things. its a character "flaw" to everyone but me. ha.
neg splits only seem to work well if you are careful about making those increments nice and easy.
That line of runners in your pics from the race is unbelievable. How long did it take before you actually started running? I love Spokanne, it's beautiful.
Benny
Benny, I think it took about 20 minutes to get to the starting line after the official start of the race, and we were in the middle of the pack!
They sent us off in small waves, so we could start jogging in just a couple of blocks.
Spokane is nice with the river running through it and all. In fact, there is talk about putting in a white water park on the river. I think that would be great!
jc, how do you know how fast you are running? I've been relying a lot on my heart rate monitor, and it really helps me keep it slow. Without it, I start too fast and blow up.
Re music: I love classic rock, but I'd like to expand my mind a little and experience some new stuff.
You can figure out distance a few ways. WHen I am training, I am lazy. I wear a GPS watch where I can watch my pace as it happens. When it comes to the races however, I have figured out that the pace and distance data is distracting and I do better just by keeping my splits using the timer on the watch. And assuming the mile markers are set correctly, and they usually are, that works fairly well. But for training runs, your best bet would be to drive your route first and at mile marks see if you can't come up with a good landmark to use (or if you are me and you are out in the middle of FL on the worlds longest, flattest stretch of road, make some quick landmarks yourself). So then at each mile mark, you can just hit the split function on your watch and know how you did.
My reason for the GPS wound up being that most of the times I am running busy city streets, so my exact routes can change every time I do a run which throws off the mileage fairly dramatically. So for me having the GPS to do it on the fly was key. But somehow I don't think you'll have that same issue. But they are cool gadgets all the same.
As for music. I tend to run either to nothing and sing to myself (ha) or like crazy upbeat dance tunes. I love running to a remake of Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation." When I need inspiration badly (like during a BRICK), I put on a mix with Heather Small's "Proud," Cher's "Song for the Lonely," a dance version of Duncan Shiek's "On a High" but I also mix in things like Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," Martha Reeve's "Nowhere to Run," and some cadence chats by the US Army Airborne Division. Musically I am a little cracked out. But especially for a BRICK workout, its about whatever gets you through.
Hope that helps.
Ah yes, the GPS! I've been coveting one for some time now. I've put myself on a self imposed spending freeze, but with prices so dang low, and with a birthday coming up... hmmm. :) I should really spend the money on a bike fit, but toys are sooo much more fun!
The GPS would work well for me since a lot of the back roads here don't have cross streets for miles and miles, so it's impossible to map with gmaps. I like the idea of just being able to run in any direction and have the gps tell me when to turn around.
I was really surprised that my HR monitor doesn't have a split/lap setting on it! I have a watch that does, but I think I get more out of the heart rate info than the pace info, at least at this point.
I still havent properly calibrated my heartrate monitor. I need to do that and actually make better use of that. i got a little discouraged when i first started because just about every run for me was at heartattack levels. my body was so unaccustomed to it.
but yes, gps is great. i have the timex ironman system. its been a godsend. and you can buy it one piece at a time, which is nice too. so its not as jawdropping.
This site is one of the best I have ever seen, wish I had one like this.
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