Sunday 17 February 2013

Running slow

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my last post with advice about pacing, especially Jill! It was really helpful, and on Friday morning I took the advice, and aimed to run my long run at 10 min/ mile pace.

This was 30 seconds per mile slower than my last long run, but 2 miles longer, so it seemed appropriate to slow down anyway. I picked the same route as before, running towards the beach and then along it. I was lucky enough to have another fabulous day for running, as the sun was out, it was mild and there was hardly any wind.


For the first few miles I found it quite hard to run slowly. I had to keep forcing myself to slow down, and concentrate on how fast I was running. It just wasn't my natural pace. However, as I got used to it, and as I got more tired, it became a lot easier to stick to this pace.


I ran along the beach until the Garmin hit 8 miles, and then I turned around to come back. At that stage, I was feeling pretty comfortable. I did stop a few times, to take photos, to cross busy roads, and once when I saw someone I knew and stopped for a chat. But the last 5 miles or so were continuous, and for the last 4 miles, I tried to pick up the pace a bit. I was hoping for 9.30 mins for those, but it felt a bit too hard, and I didn't want to push too hard as this has been a big mileage week for me!

This is what my splits looked like:
I was really pleased to see that my last 2 miles were the fastest of the run! My average pace for the whole run was 9.56 min miles, so job done.


The following morning I went along to Parkrun, although I probably shouldn't have run so soon after that long run, my legs felt in need of recovery. But I like the social aspect of running with others. It was my slowest 5k for a few years as I ran at 9.32 pace, which was probably faster than I should have. I jogged most of it, then sprinted at the end to get under 30 minutes! I couldn't help myself.

After that, my legs were well and truly stuffed. I didn't get a chance to cycle this week (because of work commitments), but it's been my biggest running week since 2010, when I trained for my last marathon! I ran 30.1 miles. Perhaps it's no wonder then that I'm absolutely shattered. Today I'm off to visit my parents with the kids for a few days, as it's half term holiday this week. I'm looking forward to some relaxing, and then starting the next week of running in my home town.

5 comments:

  1. You did a great job with your pacing. It's one of the hardest things to get right - running slow long runs. I'm still trying and failing miserably. But I did one a couple of weeks ago where I had to run with a much slower friend and my recovery was great afterwards.

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  2. I absolutely must try and run slower for the long runs. You had a GREAT run there,wow, very impressive!

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  3. I have same problem I always tend to run too fast! You did great and what a nice environment to run over there!!

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  4. Great job. Gorgeous pictures for sure! Have fun on your trip.

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  5. Gorgeous pictures! Great job on your long run. I have a lot of trouble trying to stay with a pace on long runs!
    ~Anna
    fitgirlwannabe.blogpsot.com

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