|
June 14, 2005, 6:30pm: Trying to increase my pace.
| GOAL: |
6 miles |
|
|
| LOCATION: |
Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri
|
| CONDITIONS: |
81°, partly cloudy and breezy |
| RESULTS: |
6 miles |
TIME: 1:02:29
|
PACE: 10:24/mile
|
| TOTAL TRAINING MILES TO DATE (walking & running): 251 miles |
Still, What a Feeling!
I'm still in awe that I ran the half-marathon last weekend non-stop, and I believe I can do anything at this point. There's always been that argument from runners and non-runners that if you walk any part of a marathon, you're not a real runner. Well, now I can relax, try out walk breaks and see if they help increase my pace. And if anyone gives me trouble for walking, I'll just say "Hey! I ran a half marathon non-stop, so consider me a real runner and shut your piehole! How far did you run today?"
Training Differently to Increase Pace
Today, my friend Sean showed me a couple articles about increasing pace. One of the articles is linked from The Running Advisor website, and the other is linked from Bally's website. They mostly mention interval training, and how it can help increase pace and help lose weight. So, today I thought I would try it. I've realized that my pace is, has, and for now will always be no faster than 10:30/mile. I would like it to be under 10:00/mile for the marathon, and 9:00/mile would be ideal, but probably impossible. So, I tried a 5-1 technique, in which I would run faster than I normally would for 5 minutes, then take a 1 minute walking break. Well, I tried that today, and I actually increased my time from last Tuesday 6-miler by a little over 3 minutes! Imagine that...taking walk breaks makes my pace faster. It was hard to remember to run faster than I normally would during the 5-minute blocks, but I did it for the most part, and after the 1 minute walk, I felt energized to take on another 5 minutes. It made the run seem to go faster, but that was because it gave my mind something to think about other than people watching and looking at trees. I like the idea of interval training, even though I was much more exhausted after today's run that I had been in the past. I may try keeping up this technique for and see if my pace continues to improve on a 2-week average. If so, then I'll read more about interval training and find out the optimal way to do it for my body type.
| THOUGHTS: |
I hope the interval training will help me lose weight. So far, it's helped my pace. |
Back
|
|
|
