Sunday, February 15, 2015

To be stronger~better~faster than you used to be...

The Boardwalk felt deserted when I got to my usual running start spot this morning. Most of my running group was at the Ft. Lauderdale A1A marathon/half marathon event today. And I didn't see any of the other running groups out there this morning either so I assume they were all at the race as well. It was also pretty cold this morning (in the 40s when I woke up; in the 50s when I got to the Boardwalk) so that might have contributed to the relative emptiness. It was still a beautiful (albeit cold) morning though...
It even looks cold in the pictures doesn't it?
I've been having a series of runs with paces that have been disappointing and today was no exception. Although I know all most of the contributing factors to my slower pace runs (and I knew before I started that I was probably going to struggle this morning), I still hate it when I don't feel like I'm making progress. After the first mile (more accurately: during mile 1) I just resigned myself to sticking with the distance goal for today and forget about focusing on a completion time or pre-determined pace. 

Ten miles done...

During mile one I couldn't go more than a few minutes without needing a walk break. It really took me a while to get into the running "groove". I tried to shave off a few seconds with each subsequent mile... but some attempts were better than others...

You can see the drop in my cadence with each walk break...
For the duration of the run (after mile 1) I tried to stick with the 1 mile:1 minute run:walk intervals. I had to pause my Garmin once (after 1:06:40) when I went to my car to remove my long sleeve running jacket. And then you can see another "stop" between 1:23:20 and 1:40:00, which I think was because I went exploring a bit on the route and took a detour, but I could only go so far before the construction interrupted my path forcing me to stop and turn back. I didn't pause my watch but there was a sudden stop so I figure that must be what the watch picked up.

I took a few post run pictures at the end of the 10 miles. 
Sand & Shoes Selfie... 

Rays of Sunlight...
I was still listening to one of my favorite songs so I didn't bother to remove the earbuds ;) 

Once I got home I iced my knees and left hip (they feel "tight") and rested. I actually had to keep icing my left knee on and off for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow I need to do an extra long yoga session to help relieve some of the "tightness" I'm feeling (I think I need to restart the hip strengthening exercises I used to do at physical therapy as well).

I have 2.5 months until the training for my full marathon officially starts, so I want to use the time wisely. For the next 10 weeks I want to try and...
1. Get comfortable with the run 1 mile : walk 1 minute interval for my long runs
2. Focus on correcting issues with my hips, knees, feet (core strength, gait etc.)
3. Build up a solid endurance for 10 mile runs (which will become my new minimum LR distance as of May)
4. Be able to run up to 5 miles non-stop for at least one of my mid-week runs
5. Incorporate other types of training runs (hill repeats, track workouts, tempo runs etc etc etc).

**So many goals...so little time**
But thankfully...

Today marked the beginning of Kai's conditioning for track season. She wanted to start off with a 1 mile run at a local park but by the time we got there most of the lights by the running trail were turned off (which means too many dark corners). I've watched way too many episodes of Criminal Minds and Law & Order so I didn't bother to slow down as we drove by; I just gave Kai the "don't even ask" look and took her back home to run inside our complex). 

Kai, like 98% of the human population, runs faster than I do so I can't really run "with" her, but I met her at different landmarks while she completed her run. By the end of it she was "fine" and I was exhausted (but in my defense I did run 10 miles this morning).

Hope you had great LRs this weekend!

Did anyone run in a race this weekend? How was it?

For those of you who have trained for a full before...What's your minimum LR distance during your training season? (I've read (and heard) that a 10 mile minimum provides a solid foundation... thoughts??)

2 comments:

  1. Your garmin pic made me smile. 2:10 used to be my regular time for 10 mile runs. Lately it's slipped to about 2:25. When training for a full, I used 10 as my minimum. We'd alternate weeks between ten mile recovery runs with weeks with increasing mileage. I've just kept at 10 for my standard Saturday distance even when not training for a full. It feels like a good distance to be able to jump into a half any time.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jennifer! I'm planning on doing the same thing (alternating between 10 miles and increased mileage) also. I think that will work for me once I can get to the point where I feel really comfortable with 10 miles (which I'm hoping will happen with the next few weeks). I have a couple of halves lined up so those help me stay focused and in training mode :)
      How many fulls have you done? (October will be my first one)

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