Digital coaching
Having the Forerunner is teaching me a lot about how I run. I did a short, easy run on Friday morning and felt awful the first mile. My pace was a choppy 11+ min/mi, and I was really feeling the effects of not having any easily accessible energy sources. After the first mile, I settled down, accepted the fact that I would be running uphill for another half mile, and my pace dropped to 9:30 min/mi. I turned around after about 16 minutes, just shy of 1.5 miles, and continued to pick up the pace, now heading downhill. I noticed that when I start breathing harder, it means my pace has dipped below 8:45 min/mi. I have become an efficient downhill runner and was able to run the last half quite quickly, adding on a few tenths to finish 3 miles in 28:30.
Yesterday, I took the Forerunner out on my long run. I have not been doing particularly well on long runs lately, and I suspected it was because I was running too quickly at the beginning. I set the pace alert to ring if I ran below 9 min/mi and checked frequently with the goal at staying between 9:30 and 10:30 min/mi for the running segments. I found I had to slow myself down throughout the entire run. Several times I'd just be running along and suddenly discover my pace had improved to 8:45 min/mi. Staying slow was a bit of a challenge, and I felt a little frustrated and nervous about my overall time, except that with walking included, my pace per mile was always between 10:15 and 11:00 min/mi. Still, I felt strong the entire time, and I was able to run the last few miles at a faster pace than the rest of my run. In the end, I ran 9.1 miles at an average pace of 10:30. Last week I ran 8 miles at an average pace of 12:00, having become quite fatigued after 5 miles. It's a little counter-intuitive to run slower to have a faster time overall, but it's also time-honored marathon strategy. Most marathoners try to run either even splits (all miles at roughly the same pace) or negative splits (with the second half faster than the first). The best racing advice out there is to control your pace at the beginning, even if it means running the first mile slower than goal pace.
Anyhow, with all the fun and practicality of my new gadget, I am wondering why I waited so long to break down and buy it. All those years I struggled in cross-country... Maybe if I had this thing, I could have finally broken 24 minutes. But then, maybe I still can. =)
Yesterday, I took the Forerunner out on my long run. I have not been doing particularly well on long runs lately, and I suspected it was because I was running too quickly at the beginning. I set the pace alert to ring if I ran below 9 min/mi and checked frequently with the goal at staying between 9:30 and 10:30 min/mi for the running segments. I found I had to slow myself down throughout the entire run. Several times I'd just be running along and suddenly discover my pace had improved to 8:45 min/mi. Staying slow was a bit of a challenge, and I felt a little frustrated and nervous about my overall time, except that with walking included, my pace per mile was always between 10:15 and 11:00 min/mi. Still, I felt strong the entire time, and I was able to run the last few miles at a faster pace than the rest of my run. In the end, I ran 9.1 miles at an average pace of 10:30. Last week I ran 8 miles at an average pace of 12:00, having become quite fatigued after 5 miles. It's a little counter-intuitive to run slower to have a faster time overall, but it's also time-honored marathon strategy. Most marathoners try to run either even splits (all miles at roughly the same pace) or negative splits (with the second half faster than the first). The best racing advice out there is to control your pace at the beginning, even if it means running the first mile slower than goal pace.
Anyhow, with all the fun and practicality of my new gadget, I am wondering why I waited so long to break down and buy it. All those years I struggled in cross-country... Maybe if I had this thing, I could have finally broken 24 minutes. But then, maybe I still can. =)
posted by megan at
11:31 AM
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