...Take it easy...
That's sure what I did on what must be my first real long slow run. Sure, I've run a lot of long runs over the last few months, some slower and some faster, but this morning I was truly slow. I know, I know--that's the whole point of long slow runs. And I feel pretty good about it, but something is gnawing at me a bit, like I didn't do enough.
My run this morning was day 7 of week 6 of an 8-week program generated by Smart Coach from Runner's World. 10 miles @ 10:43 pace. At least that is what it was supposed to be. Instead, I decided not to look at my Garmin Forerunner 305 during my run, preferring to just run based on feel--nice and easy. So that's what I did.
I felt good. I felt strong. It was a beautiful morning, with the temperature in the low 50s when I headed out. It was deceiving. I figured the cool temperature was contributing to how good I felt, not an especially slow pace. As the miles went by, I continued to feel strong, even though the temperature had climbed into the 60s, the sun was out, and I was tackling hill after hill. In fact, somewhere between mile 7 and 8, I started thinking about a blog post to the effect of "flattening of the hills." That's how good I felt.
Finally, I hit the end of mile 10. A little walking to cool down, and it was time to check the Forerunner--1:58:02! Oh my goodness, that's like 10 minutes off the pace I was supposed to be running, and not in a good way. No wonder I felt so good during the run, and feel so good now, I was barely moving.
After seeing the overall time, the next step was to check my heart rate and splits. Wow, 146 bpm for 10 miles. That's something, right? I mean that puts my run squarely in the "Long Slow Run" category, where it is all about building endurance, and getting the time in on my feet, right? Just in case I need to feel a little bit better about things--for the first time, the first run at a new long distance didn't own me.
Here are the splits:
It sounds like not focusing on the time was a great decision. You had a great run. Leave it at that! ;)
Posted by Andrew is getting fit on 5/4/2008 2:35:01 PM
Hey, thats a good run, buddy, no matter how slow you go. 10 miles is 10 miles. you are building good endurance, and the slow pace will only make you faster in the future. Something about the slow run allowing you to build more mitochondria.
Posted by Kevin on 5/4/2008 9:55:39 PM
Andrew and Kevin, thanks for the encouraging words! I really do feel pretty good about the run, but I was definitely surprised to be over 1 minute per mile off of the pace I was supposed to do. However, it was nice to still have energy for the rest of the day. I can't say that all of my long slow runs will be like this, but this was a good change of pace. And heck, another 5K on top of yesterday's run, and I am at the half marathon distance a full 5 months ahead of my race!
Posted by Bryan on 5/5/2008 11:35:22 AM