Move away from the plodding

In Born to Run last night, (I won’t spoil it) I read about how most people get very good at running a certain speed, but they do not go fast enough in their fast runs, or slow enough in their slow runs. This rang true with me as I am still running faster on my long runs than the suggested pace. I was thinking that as I run further, I will naturally slow down, but on thinking about it that will really mean that the last few miles will be slower, whereas overall I want to maintain a steady but slower pace. It also made me a little more inspired to keep at the intervals.

Today (after a peanut clif bar at work) was my 6 mile tempo run. Due to the rain all day I was not really looking forward to it, but I had put all my running clothes out ready, so I did not have long to think about. I found an old baseball cap which I put on over my earwarmer; my intention being that it would keep the rain off my face and my glasses, but the rain was pretty much sideways for half the run so that didn’t work! I did make sure I had more water today, although I could have just run along with my mouth wide open?? The plan was a 2 mile warm up, which was 22 minutes, then 2 miles faster (one mile was 8.5 mins, one was 9 mins so both pretty fast for me) and then cool down for the last part, which ended up being a little under 2 miles for 18 minutes- I think the thought of getting into a hot shower was spurring me on for the last bit. I was quite pleased with that, as I know I have a tendancy to go out at the same speed. During the faster running I had to really think about my breathing, but practise makes perfect. The rest of the run was spent avoiding the puddles.

Dinner was delish- a freezer meal of pumpkin pasta which was great- when I got home Andy had already put the oven on, so I put the pasta in, jumped in the shower (he also cooked some green beans to go alongside) and I even had time to half dry my hair 🙂 Just what I needed after that run.

Later I am going to foam roll some more, and maybe have some stollen with my tea.

Night

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11 thoughts on “Move away from the plodding”

  1. Good for you for getting out there and running despite the horrible conditions ~ it’s that kind of commitment that will get you through the marathon 🙂

    And I wouldn’t call yourself a ‘plodder’ ~ that’s a great pace over that distance to build on. You’ll come in under the time limit no trouble.

    xxx

  2. I did a long run in torrentiasl rain last year and was swallowing rain every few seconds – genuinely did keep me well hydrated!

    That’s definitely true of running paces and well done on the faster stuff. Do you use a Garmin for pace? If so you could experiment and maybe do some shorter but faster intervals. In fact…if you message me your best 10k race time on WLR I’ll come up with a couple of suggestions.

    Interesting that you ran faster in the cool down. I suspect that’s more a carry over from the faster intervals – your pace perception alters and you might even find you run with a ‘stronger’ gait afterwards.

  3. Emma- glad you are enjoying it too 🙂
    Jessica- thanks- for that- I know I am not the slowest runner, and over the years I have got faster, but I know I have a pace I am confortable with and don’t tend to stray too much from that pace.
    Rob- well done for running in the torrential rain- I don’t like soggy shoes so normally find an excuse! I think I was probably more aware that I was near the end so could go a bit faster, whereas in my first mile I knew I had 5 more to go so did not want to empty the tank too soon. You are right the cool down seems easier after running faster too.

  4. Well done on sticking with it and still going out, I doubt I would have. I can relate to your thoughts on speed, when I run outside I tend to just run along at the same speed each time, when I start my training plan I really need to up my game, loving your blog for all these tips!

    1. Glad you find it useful! I never know if these things are obvious to others but they didnt occur to me 🙂

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