#50, finally
I won't bore anyone with further reiterations of how I set myself a target of 50 cardio sessions to get myself out of a sedentary autumn/winter lifestyle. There are more than enough posts in the archives that deal with that.
Anyway, I'm there. Of course, "there" isn't anything big enough to pop the champagne, release the balloons and confetti, and hire the gospel choir, but I'll celebrate my little victory. "There" isn't the summit of things, but a bivouac on the mountain I want to climb. After all, Winter's barely started, and I want to maintain this momentum into Spring.
Did 10K today in 45:45. Was hoping to at least run close to my PR, but I didn't have the energy or will to do it. I ran pretty close to the lap times I envisioned, 7:30 miles until after mile 4, which is when it started getting difficult mentally. "Come on!" the spirit willed, but the head retorted, "Come on! Be serious." Still, 7:32 miles for 6.25 miles isn't too bad for someone who doesn't usually run more than 10 miles a week.
I hope to do some fartleks (gotta love that word) over the course of the next few runs - just adding a few sections of fast running into normal jogs. I intend to leave the watch behind, though. I'm getting quite sick of result-oriented running; looking at lap times and in a way, judging myself by the ticks of the second hand. It detracts too much from the joy of running, and each time I do that I feel like I'm tightening the screws on myself. Don't get me wrong - I love it each time I set a PR, and I like working towards one, but the need to run a certain distance within a certain time each time I lace up can be a little too needlessly all-consuming.
4 Comments:
Wow, great 10K time!
I hear you on the intervals. They can be a bummer sometimes (unless you go with a friend, then you can encourage each other)... Speed play is so much more fun! :)
8:47 PM
Jen - intervals, while necessary (I suppose) remind me of a hamster in the cage running on those circular treadmill thingys.
Massoman - sadly, the gospel choir is but a product of my imagination.
Susan - when I re-started running I could barely run for more than 12 minutes without having to stop. I'd read somewhere that the body recruits fat to burn as fuel only after about 20 minutes, so I decided to aim to run continuously for 20 minutes, even if it meant running slowly. My pace then was about 10 minutes per mile for twenty minutes. After that I aimed both to cover a bit more distance in that time (20 mins), as well as to run at a comfortable pace, but for slightly longer - up to 30 or 35 minutes. Somehow I managed to work up to 8-minute miles using that formula. I don't do LSD, because:
a) my knees complain after more than 15 miles per week;
b) If I had the time, I would want to devote it to other things; and
c) it is my belief that if the body has plenty of practice running long distances slowly, it does just that. Run long distances slowly.
That's my take on it.
4:23 PM
I so agree with you on dropping the watch during runs. I plan to drop my watch after the half marathon. I'm too addicted right now to quit. I'm also to hard on myself. On one run I got pissed because at mile 3 I was 27.30 and the week before it was 26.24. How insane is that? It was a long run and in the end I was pretty much the same time as the week before. Once my race is over I want to enjoy running again. Just me and the road..ok maybe my ipod too.
9:58 PM
Celebrate by saying fartlek as many times as you can! Congrats on hitting 50!
5:20 AM
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