I'm definitely still in the "settling into a new training regimen" phase. I'm a little stiff and tired after every run, but it feels good to be pushing myself again. On Saturday I did my first 10 miler in weeks. Before getting sick, my typical 10 miler would be an 8:30-9:00 minute pace, so I was looking forward to these 10 miles being really easy since McMillan prescribes my ideal long run pace at a 9:30. I forced myself to start off really really slow and it felt awkward the first minute or so, but then it felt great. That is, until my little Nike plus man told me my 1 mile split of 9:50. I was expecting a 9:30, maybe even a 9:40, but 9:50? I am very proud of myself for the amount of self control I used in that moment. While everything in me was screaming, "PICK IT UP SLOWPOKE! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO RUN A SUB 3:45 MARATHON IF 9:50 FEELS COMFORTABLE?" I managed to ignore that voice and listen to the calm, rational voice instead. The calm voice was saying, "Remember, this was your plan in the first place. Start really slow and you will have energy in the end." Stay calm and keep the pace light and easy." So, that is what I did and I had an awesome run. (Take that evil, crazy voice!) I ran down the bike path that travels from Coronado to Imperial Beach. The morning was so clear and blue. I still marvel at the beauty of the desert landscape. To have beautiful mountains on one side of my gaze and the sparkling Pacific on the other is pretty perfect. And, on the way back I saw two rabbits playing on the trail. They were darting in and out of the shrubs that line the trail and they were so cute. They look just like the rabbits in the southeast, but with much bigger ears. I ended up averaging exactly a 9:30 pace and finished feeling a little tired, but mostly grateful for such a perfect morning. Looks like listening to the calm voice instead of the crazy voice definitely pays off in the end.
After taking Sunday off, I did my first speed intervals yesterday. The schedule called for 4 x 800. I decided to add a mile warm-up and a mile cool down. And I walked/jogged for a couple of minutes in between each interval. My target time for 800's is 3:30-3:40. I did them on the bike trail that is over on the bay side of Coronado. I have done mile repeats over there before so I had a general sense of distance. I used my Nike plus app too. I am not too confident that my distances were exact, but I feel like for a middle-packer like me, a few meters here and there will not make any difference in my race performance. My first interval took 3:48, but that included stopping to pick up my phone and plug it back in when it fell off the stroller. So, I'm going to call that a 3:40. My second one was 3:43. Third was 3:41. And for the fourth, I have no idea because I was planning on running to my old mile repeat marker, but when I got there, my watch read 3:15. So I kept pushing for another 15 seconds for good measure. I have no idea how long that last one was though. I would like to think I was running faster because I knew it was my last one, but I think the more realistic conclusion is that my last 800 was probably more like a 700. Oh, well. Hopefully by June I'll have the distances figured out. The one mile cool-down I had planned turned into a 1.5 mile cool down with a stop in the middle at the grocery store. I think I will use map my run to figure out a more exact 800 for next time. Luckily, this training plan only calls for intervals once every three weeks, so I have some time to figure it out. The good news is that Susannah did great in the stroller with the stopping and starting. I was worried that she might cry to get out each time I slowed to a walk, but she did great. I would appreciate any prayers for this to continue. ;)
Today I am going to do a 5 mile run with the 3 middle miles being at race pace. It is supposed to start raining sometime this morning so I'm hoping to squeeze it in before the rain starts falling. Fingers crossed......
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