so today's run was a little new for me. in an average week of this new plan, 3-4 of the 5 running days are for a set time, rather than a set mileage. It is an interesting way to run. my day called for 45-60 minutes at an easy pace. So i figured I would set out in my general run direction, run for approx 25 minutes, then turn back and head home. I guestimated that my typical avg pace of 8:30 min/mile ought to get me to about 5.9 miles. So I decided to use my 6 mile loop, but to turn back if i hit 25 min before the typical loop turn-back. there were some opportunities for error because my routes are loops, not really out and back. so the second "half" is sometimes a little more than half, etc. But i tried to be casual about it, just get out there and run, and not worry too much. with a total time in mind, and an instruction to run "easy" i felt like i was running really slow, jogging even. turns out this was in my head, because my avg pace was once again 8:30 min/mile. I ran out until approx 25 minutes, then turned around and followed a different loop on the way back. when i hit the usual stopping point, about 2 tenths of a mile from home, i stopped. i typically walk that last .20 miles as my "cool down". plus it has a really awful hill that i hate to hit when i'm on my last legs. When I stopped, I was at 49 minutes and at 5.77 miles. pretty good adherence to the plan.
it was really difficult to try and think about times while running. I have run the same loops so many times, i have distances in my head. how many miles to each landmark. how many tenths of a mile between other landmarks. but when i tried to estimate how long it would take me to get to each location i was all over the place. time passed really slowly. if i thought it would take me 5 minutes to get somewhere, it was more like 2 minutes. it was weird.
i guess this style will allow me to tailor my plan week by week. maybe staying on my feet for the set amount of time will help build the toughness and the endurance. if i hit a super long sat training run for more than 20 miles and my body is trashed, my runs for a set time the next week may be lower mileage than the previous week. as an example, I could see tuesdays being a faster 60 min run for 7 miles, or a slower 45 min run for 4.5 miles. either of which would be "on plan". it will be interesting to watch my mileage accumulation day by day, week by week, and see the totals. with 16 weeks ahead of me, i just gotta trust that this will get me to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment