Tempo Pace?
As I am learning more about running and still enjoying it, I am finding myself more focused on pace than I was 8 weeks ago (8 weeks ago just seemed like a good number to me!) and so I am working on it. Mostly on short-ish runs, because I know that the long runs are still going to be a struggle to complete, regardless of my pace! So for now, I am working on that little 5K PR goal on my short runs. I am not there yet, but I have definitely made a lot of progress!
Today was a good example of this progress. When I woke up, my legs felt like tree trunks. I was pretty sure that they would. J and I hung a ceiling in the bathroom last night. Meaning, he drilled stuff while I stood on tippy toes and held sheets of drywall over my head! I think yesterday was definitely a shoulder twofer after the morning's shoulder strength training, and then holding all the drywall up. So anyway, as a result, I slept like lead and I woke up feeling like it too.
So I got dressed (back in shorts, yay!) and headed out the door anticipating slow. I even posted on Twitter how I thought it was going to be so slow! And it started slow. The first pace that hopped onto the Garmin was 10:34. But I found my stride, and my legs started to feel lighter. When I saw on the garmin that I was holding pretty steady around a 9:12 for the first mile, I decided I was going to push for 2 tempo miles in the middle, and I wanted them to be around 8:45. (Eventually, I have work to do to pick that up, but for now...) Today was scheduled to be tempo, and by gosh, I was going to DO IT!
My hope was that I would push hard for the second mile and by the third, I would just be "going" so it would be slightly more natural to me. And it kind of was. Splits were as follows:
Mile 1 - 9:13
Mile 2 - 8:46
Mile 3 - 8:35
Mile 4 - 8:58
My average pace ended up right around 8:53, which I am pleased with for 4 miles. It needs some work, but I am doing that work!
And there is the Garmin proof of this one. I am pleased with me!
Today was a good example of this progress. When I woke up, my legs felt like tree trunks. I was pretty sure that they would. J and I hung a ceiling in the bathroom last night. Meaning, he drilled stuff while I stood on tippy toes and held sheets of drywall over my head! I think yesterday was definitely a shoulder twofer after the morning's shoulder strength training, and then holding all the drywall up. So anyway, as a result, I slept like lead and I woke up feeling like it too.
So I got dressed (back in shorts, yay!) and headed out the door anticipating slow. I even posted on Twitter how I thought it was going to be so slow! And it started slow. The first pace that hopped onto the Garmin was 10:34. But I found my stride, and my legs started to feel lighter. When I saw on the garmin that I was holding pretty steady around a 9:12 for the first mile, I decided I was going to push for 2 tempo miles in the middle, and I wanted them to be around 8:45. (Eventually, I have work to do to pick that up, but for now...) Today was scheduled to be tempo, and by gosh, I was going to DO IT!
My hope was that I would push hard for the second mile and by the third, I would just be "going" so it would be slightly more natural to me. And it kind of was. Splits were as follows:
Mile 1 - 9:13
Mile 2 - 8:46
Mile 3 - 8:35
Mile 4 - 8:58
My average pace ended up right around 8:53, which I am pleased with for 4 miles. It needs some work, but I am doing that work!
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