The days slipped away from me a little bit and so I missed a week of posting. So, here I'm recapping weeks 8 & 9.
If you've read my last couple of posts, then you know that I was in somewhat of an extended runnner's slump, culminating with a horrible (at least horrible feeling) 9 mile run. Luckily, after my Sunday & Monday break between runs, things began to get better. I had a 3 mile Tuesday run (4/14) which felt decent and then I had a 5 mile pace run the next day which went very well. I was a little worried about it but I just got out there and started off at a fairly quick pace and had no problems. I was very encouraged because I didn't have to force myself to get out and get started. That feeling of having to force myself was getting pretty old. The week then ended with a Saturday (4/18) long run of 10 miles and it was much easier that the previous Saturday 9 mile run. It was just what I needed. I ran the first half or so in fairly steady rainfall, but I really don't mind the rain like some people do. I commented to my wife afterwards that I can't remember ever having a bad run while running in the rain. It always keeps your body nice and cool so you don't get overheated. It's also very surreal running in the rain. Your senses are telling you that your not supposed to be out running in the rain so it feels a little like you're living an adventure.
Week 9 continued much the same. The weather was nice and cool and I didn't feel like I was forcing myself to get out and run. This week was a step back week, which means that the long run mileage was lower than the previous two weeks. The Saturday (4/25) long run was a 10k distance and I made pretty good time without feeling like I was pushing myself. My pace was 8:41 per mile and afterwards, I looked back through all of my runs and this is a personal record for me for the 10k distance. This is very encouraging as I always run a somewhat hilly course and I could have done it faster if I had paced it a bit better and pushed a little harder. Still, I'm very happy with it as it shows that I'm continuing to steadily lower my average pace per mile. You can see from my mile splits that I ran the 6th mile at a pace below 8min/mile and this is what I want to see: Starting out at a pace and then gradually increasing throughout the run.
So, as I come down to the final few weeks of this training plan, I wanted to talk about the counter intuitiveness of long distance running. Natural thinking tells you that if you want to run a race with the fastest time possible, that you will run as fast and as hard as you can at the beginning. This is common sense thinking as you don't want to "waste" time and energy at the beginning of a race and then not be able to catch up.
But, in reality, it's important to begin more slowly than you intend to finish. It doesn't make sense to the mind that if you start out at a slower pace, you will end up finishing sooner than if you start out at a faster pace. For some reason, when you start out at a slower pace and then slowly increase your speed over the miles, you will end up finishing more quickly because you will have more energy reserves at the end of the race. Most of the time, the pace increase will come naturally. Your body will feel like it's going the same pace, yet it will be gradually moving faster. I'm sure there are clear scientific explanations why this is the case if you care to research the subject. As for me, I love counter intuitive things like this so I choose not to put too much thought into the whys and hows and just accept it. Remember, start at a fairly slow, comfortable pace and you will get faster over the course of the run,
Ok, time for the "Song of the Run"
Way back in 1992 this album came out and I remember it distinctly because I had just graduated from college and was looking for a job. I remember driving around in my care, listening to a cassette that I recorded from the CD. There were no CD players in cars in those days. At any rate, I remember the first time I put this CD into the player and the first song came on. I still love it to this day. Enjoy!
"Someone finally told me
That you'd wasted eight of your nine lives
Oh, give yourself a break before you break down
You're gonna need someone on your side
And here I am, and here I am
Well, you don't need to look so pleased."
Morrissey "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side"
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