Just Running
This week I've mostly just been running. On Monday I ran about three miles and concentrated on my stride. I've started imagining guidelines coming out of my body. One from the top of my head that goes all through my spine - that's to help me keep good posture throughout the run. Then I have wires coming out of my shoulders and hips - those help pull me forward - but keep my body square. Then I imagine pulling those lines in - like they're on a pulley - so every time my arms swing forward I pull in a bit more line. It really seems to help, especially when I'm getting tired.
The weather has been really nice - not cold, but not too hot yet. On Tuesday I ran another three miles. I meant to go out and run each one at about 10:30, but I headed out much faster than that - I finished the first mile in 9:48. So the next two were slower. I ended up averaging under 10:30, but it still wasn't the run I was aiming for. I had wanted just a nice, easy, steady run. So I need to work on controlling the run at the beginning, not heading out too fast, 'cause that wears me out quickly.
Yesterday I did a strange interval workout. It is one of the preset ones that came with my Garmin. So, I ran 2 minutes each in heart rate zone 1, 2 and 3. Then half a mile in zone 4 followed by 4 and a half minutes in zone two. The half mile and 4.5 minutes repeated for a total of 4 times, and then I finished with 2 minutes in zone 2 and 2 in zone 1.
It felt pretty good, but I ran into some of the same issues I had with the base running. If I go up anything that even resembles an incline - I have to drastically cut my speed to stay in the same zone and once I'm above the zone, it is very hard to drop back down. And then sometimes when I do drop back down - I let it drop too far.
It was also amazing to me that by the end - I had been out for about 51 minutes, but had barely run 4 miles!! Now, I was walking a fair bit. like those 4.5 minutes in zone 2, because there was no other way to get my heart rate into the right zone. But it still felt crazy. So I wondered again if the zones aren't quite correct for me. It just seems like it was supposed to feel much harder.
Anyway, today I'll go out and do an easy run, 'cause my legs have been feeling a bit tired and tight. Though I also haven't been stretching. I think the bigger issue though is that this is more running than I've done in a long time. I really want to be running 4-6 times a week though. And I really want to get better times in my races this year!
The weather has been really nice - not cold, but not too hot yet. On Tuesday I ran another three miles. I meant to go out and run each one at about 10:30, but I headed out much faster than that - I finished the first mile in 9:48. So the next two were slower. I ended up averaging under 10:30, but it still wasn't the run I was aiming for. I had wanted just a nice, easy, steady run. So I need to work on controlling the run at the beginning, not heading out too fast, 'cause that wears me out quickly.
Yesterday I did a strange interval workout. It is one of the preset ones that came with my Garmin. So, I ran 2 minutes each in heart rate zone 1, 2 and 3. Then half a mile in zone 4 followed by 4 and a half minutes in zone two. The half mile and 4.5 minutes repeated for a total of 4 times, and then I finished with 2 minutes in zone 2 and 2 in zone 1.
It felt pretty good, but I ran into some of the same issues I had with the base running. If I go up anything that even resembles an incline - I have to drastically cut my speed to stay in the same zone and once I'm above the zone, it is very hard to drop back down. And then sometimes when I do drop back down - I let it drop too far.
It was also amazing to me that by the end - I had been out for about 51 minutes, but had barely run 4 miles!! Now, I was walking a fair bit. like those 4.5 minutes in zone 2, because there was no other way to get my heart rate into the right zone. But it still felt crazy. So I wondered again if the zones aren't quite correct for me. It just seems like it was supposed to feel much harder.
Anyway, today I'll go out and do an easy run, 'cause my legs have been feeling a bit tired and tight. Though I also haven't been stretching. I think the bigger issue though is that this is more running than I've done in a long time. I really want to be running 4-6 times a week though. And I really want to get better times in my races this year!
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