Thursday, April 9, 2009

Tempo/speed run

On tap, a seven mile run-- one warm up, five at 8:25, and one cool down. Since Lake Murray is a 10k route, I added some distance in the beginning to try to make it closer to seven miles. I did my first tempo mile close to my target and then decided to push myself. When I got to the last tempo mile, I wanted to push it even further. I was going faster than my speed workout goal pace. Not bad for five miles in...

When I ended that mile, I slowed down to recover. I suddenly started to wonder if I had run five or six miles (since I added distance at the beginning, I couldn't use the mile markers on the trail). I changed the display on my Garmin* and it said 10 plus miles. Huh??? I have a hard time calculating while I am running and this totally confused me. Somehow, my run from Tuesday afternoon was combined on the Garmin with my Thursday tempo run. Then I was convinced that I had not done enough tempo miles. So I picked it up again, not wanting to shortchange myself. I know I ran at least a minute or so around 9:40. I must have sprinted a bit, because I ran that last mile in 8:05! It turns out that I did an extra mile at a tempo speed. Oh well...

splits- best I can tell...
mile 1-9:17
mile 2-8:19
mile 3-8:07
mile 4-8:11
mile 5-8:05
mile 6-7:45
mile 7-8:05
No wonder I felt like I was going to DIE. I do feel like I am getting stronger and faster, however. I was able to recover pretty quickly. But I don't want to run like that anytime soon. It was hard.

Happy running...

*I like to see my current lap pace while I run. It averages out the lap speed instead of current speed. The only problem is that it only shows the current lap.
I am constantly asking Laura how far we have gone on long runs because I lose track. It is funny how mushy my brain gets while I am running.

3 comments:

The Alien said...

That happens to me so often!! I calculate my distances and all before a run, but then in the middle of the run I start second guessing my calculations, the laps I've done and such, and a lot of the times I end up doing a bit extra 'just in case'

Aka Alice said...

You can toggle between three "screens" on your Garmin, and since each screen is customizable, you could see both total distance and lap/split speed).

I can't add in my head when I'm standing still, let along when I'm running ;-)

Hey, I ran the hill this morning too! You inspired me. I kept thinking. Lisa did this. Lisa did this. Thanks!

Marathonman101108 said...

Great job, Lisa. You are definitely an inspiration to all of us. Your times are incredible now.

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