Sunday, April 24, 2011

A Decent Week of Running

It was a pretty good week of running even though I wasn't expecting much after suffering through a cold that stopped me from doing anything last weekend and lingered on into this past week. I am still feeling the effects, but at least I'm able to run.

The long weekend started with a 16km run that was supposed to be only fifteen. I ran a bit too far out on the loop that I chose and I supposed that running that extra kilometre wasn't all that disappointing. There were some hilly sections on the way and I liked running them for a change. This shift towards liking hills has been good already even if I haven't seen any actual physical benefits just yet. I managed to finish the run in 1:20:59 for an average pace of 5:03/km.

On Saturday I ran over to the local track with Owen biking beside me and then proceeded to run with him. We warmed up with three laps then I paced him through a workout at just a bit faster than 5:00/km pace that went 400m, 800m, 400m with 60s rest in between. We ran a couple of laps together for a cool down and then I did two fast 800m intervals of my own with 90s rest in between. I managed both in 3:00 exactly, which is about 3:45/km pace. Not bad! I'm glad I only had to do two before jogging home and completing my 10km for the day. Malcolm's first baseball practice of the year was looming and we couldn't be late...

And today was my long run. I've been thinking a great deal about the approach I've been taking to long runs and am considering changing it. Instead of running for a set distance I am thinking of running for a set time. This, in theory, should slow me down a bit while at the same time allow me to stay out on my feet longer. I have to get to a point where I am out running for a minimum of three hours consistently no matter what the pace. Slow and easy, but long, is what I'm thinking.

I sort of planned to do a timed run today and just went off at an easy pace toward the Beaches without any real idea on what route I would take. I was hoping to stay out for at least two hours and just ran along with that goal in mind. After hitting the end of the boardwalk I ran back West and out toward the Leslie Spit. I figured this would be a good route for a two hour run and I was pretty much bang on. At the pace I was running I thought 24km would do the trick, but in the end I ended up running 25km in 2:08:16 for an average pace of 5:07/km. This probably was a bit faster than it should have been, but it felt pretty easy until the last little bit and in particular up the hill on Jones Avenue on the way home. Even so, my fastest split was the very last one (4:51/km). Ultimately, this was not exactly a long run based solely on time. I think I might have to strap the Garmin to my ankle or shove it in a pocket or something otherwise it is very difficult for me to NOT worry about pace.

The total for the week was 76km. Next Sunday I have a 10k to"race" and two weeks after that it's the Half Marathon. May will be a racing month!

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1 Comments:

Blogger Nelly said...

Glad to hear that your running is going well now! Seems like you are pretty much back to your normal 8 min mile pace or so on runs. At least you have avoided the injury bug that unfortunately bit me recently.

April 27, 2011 at 4:24 PM  

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