Running Update
Wahoo! I finished the Reston 10 miler last weekend! Not even the freezing temps and snow could stop me. Finish time 1:47:18, for an overall 10:42 pace. Not too shabby. Especially since I didn't run outside AT ALL for the entire month of February. And it was kind of hilly (not as bad as I had heard (and feared) it would be, but not as flat as the Cherry Blossom 10 miler last year) And I didn't run any further than 8 miles all month either. Sometimes life just makes it hard. But that's alright. I did what I could and I enjoyed the race (frozen as a popsicle), which is all I really wanted to do. Plus I got a finisher's medal. That always makes me happy :)
I haven't done any real running stats on my blog in a while, but I still keep track of everything in my running notebook. But just because keeping them on my blog helps me keep track over the long term I like to update here from time to time as well.
January Miles: 60
February Miles: 44.3
PRs during this time:
Longest run on the treadmill: 8.25 miles (not a record I care to break FYI)
5k distance (on the treadmill):
Keeping track of pace:
Speed intervals: usually 5 reps of 2 minutes at 7.5mph and 2 minutes at 5.5mph for recovery.
Medium distance pace: Can maintain 6.3 miles completely steady for at least 3 miles, feel more comfort and ease at 5.5-5.8 though for longer periods of time (translates to closer to a 10:30 sustainable pace for me)
Long distance (non-racing): 11 minute miles. I haven't run a 12"+ mile this year yet :)
Also working on a better running cadence. I get into a good rhythm when I run a 10 minute mile with a 168 (set the metronome to 84) steps per minute cadence. If I run any faster than that I bump the metronome up to 88. And then I spend that part of the run WISHING I had a metronome that increased by 2 beat intervals instead of 4.
Other notes of interest:
I read a pretty authoritative article about how there's no need to run on an incline when you use a treadmill in order to compensate for the lack of wind resistance and flatness and belt speed assistance, blah blah blah. It can actually be worse for you, instead it's better to just run flat and increase your speed to get the desired effort exertion. Which made me so happy because I NEVER run on an incline on the treadmill and always think to myself "one day I need to set myself to a 1% incline), but now I can continue doing without and be guilt free!
Also, and this will probably be it's own blog entry at some point (hopefully soon), I've decided to stop judging myself so harshly when I run (and in life in general). So no more excuses about "being slow" or feeling bad that I'm not running as fast or as frequently "as I should." Instead, I'm trying to just push myself in a positive direction, do what I can do (in keeping with my priorities), accept whatever results that yields, and be HAPPY about it. So far, this new mind set is going well, but it's still a near daily struggle to break out of my life long self-critical program.
On that note, I think my running update is done for now. Hopefully I'll have another one soon :)
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| I'm racing and it's SNOWING!!!!! Life is good. |
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| Focused and relaxed. That's how I like to run. |
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| At the finish line. |
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| For finishing! |
I haven't done any real running stats on my blog in a while, but I still keep track of everything in my running notebook. But just because keeping them on my blog helps me keep track over the long term I like to update here from time to time as well.
January Miles: 60
February Miles: 44.3
PRs during this time:
Longest run on the treadmill: 8.25 miles (not a record I care to break FYI)
5k distance (on the treadmill):
Keeping track of pace:
Speed intervals: usually 5 reps of 2 minutes at 7.5mph and 2 minutes at 5.5mph for recovery.
Medium distance pace: Can maintain 6.3 miles completely steady for at least 3 miles, feel more comfort and ease at 5.5-5.8 though for longer periods of time (translates to closer to a 10:30 sustainable pace for me)
Long distance (non-racing): 11 minute miles. I haven't run a 12"+ mile this year yet :)
Also working on a better running cadence. I get into a good rhythm when I run a 10 minute mile with a 168 (set the metronome to 84) steps per minute cadence. If I run any faster than that I bump the metronome up to 88. And then I spend that part of the run WISHING I had a metronome that increased by 2 beat intervals instead of 4.
Other notes of interest:
I read a pretty authoritative article about how there's no need to run on an incline when you use a treadmill in order to compensate for the lack of wind resistance and flatness and belt speed assistance, blah blah blah. It can actually be worse for you, instead it's better to just run flat and increase your speed to get the desired effort exertion. Which made me so happy because I NEVER run on an incline on the treadmill and always think to myself "one day I need to set myself to a 1% incline), but now I can continue doing without and be guilt free!
Also, and this will probably be it's own blog entry at some point (hopefully soon), I've decided to stop judging myself so harshly when I run (and in life in general). So no more excuses about "being slow" or feeling bad that I'm not running as fast or as frequently "as I should." Instead, I'm trying to just push myself in a positive direction, do what I can do (in keeping with my priorities), accept whatever results that yields, and be HAPPY about it. So far, this new mind set is going well, but it's still a near daily struggle to break out of my life long self-critical program.
On that note, I think my running update is done for now. Hopefully I'll have another one soon :)
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