I need to follow the pacecar.
Day 59.
I have a question for any runners out there:
How fast should I be running? And how much should I be pushing myself?
Maybe my mind is at the Brickyard. I’d like to be at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis today. Maybe if I was there, I could set my speed to the pace car. That’s what I need.
I’m struggling right now with pacing. I ran seven miles today in 80 minutes, exactly. I probably could have gone farther, but decided to stop with what the training said to stop with. I found myself at the end looking back on an hour and twenty minutes of trying not to waste all my energy.
Am I supposed to save it up? How much? I was sweating and pushing myself, but at 11 and a half minutes a mile, I wasn’t exactly running fast. I’d like to get back to the ten minute mile pace, but I’m somewhat worried I can’t keep it and go the entire distance.
What’s the balance?
Aside fromthe slowness, I was happy with the run. It was the longest time and farthest distance I’ve gone yet.
And, my cross-training yesterday was having a garage sale. A successful garage sale, I should say. Thanks to anyone who stopped by.
For the rest of the day, I’ll be following my mind … and watching those racecars at Indy.
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July 27th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Hey I am right there with you! I can’t figure out how to get myself to go faster. I ran my 7 this morning in 76 minutes…Was happy with those results, but I always think I should feel more tired when I am done! It is such a mental trip for me!
I think you are doing great! From what I have been told, work on your pace or time during your shorter runs, the long runs are supposed to be at a pace you know you can keep for the whole run.
22#…Impressive! See you at Bill’s!
July 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
My dad always taught me to start off races at an easy pace and then try to get progressively faster as you near the end. It can be really hard to push yourself to get faster, but if you go out slow, you don’t tend to experience burnout like so many other racers. Of course, that’s racing…
For training, I would say give yourself a big pat on the back and go faster next time if you want. Pacing is tough and just takes practice. It’s easier if you know the mile markers on the course you run. That way you can check your pace after every mile. I think that for now, it’s more important to just get all the miles in on those long runs. If you really want to push it, you could always try breaking up your run by alternating running at a slower pace for a few minutes and then at a faster pace for a few minutes. I don’t know how much that helps, but you’re doing great.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I think it’s fine to go slower on your longer runs than you do on anything else. When I do longer runs, I start out as slow as is comfortable until I figure out how I’m feeling that day. If I find out I’m feeling pretty good, then I’ll speed up, but still not to a particularly fast pace. Your long runs are about distance, not speed. The main is goal is just to finish them in decent shape, and it looks like you’re doing that.