10 turns into 16
I planned on running 10 slow miles today. I ran 16 instead. Not bad for my 6th run in 2 1/2 weeks.
I feel like it’s a shame to spend all that time and effort on the upcoming race in Arizona and not run the full marathon. So I tested my legs today to see if I felt like I could tackle 26 miles 7 days from today.I thought, “If I’m happy with the results then I’ll upgrade to the full marathon”.
I began with a very conservative running style. As the run continued, I altered it a bit. Here’s how it went:
Well, first of all, understand that the time limit for the marathon is 7 hours. That’s 16 minute per mile. That’s my speed-walking pace. So if I can walk for 7 hours and finish on time, I should be able to complete every mile by running 5 minutes and finish the rest by walking. So that was the game plan: run 5 minutes and walk to the rest of the mile.
Too bad I couldn’t stick to it. My first 4 miles went like this: 5-2-2-X–5 minutes of jogging, 2 minutes of walking, 2 minutes of jogging, X minutes of walking to complete the mile.
Although this did not seem like a strenuous pace to maintain, I was worried that my times were just too fast. I’ve felt good and finished poorly too many times in past training runs. So from mile 5 and on, I switched it to 4-3-2-X (jog, walk, jog, walk). It felt like I put in less effort yet my pace did not change. I was still averaging 11:20/mile.
Furthermore, to help maintain a lower pace, I was listening to an audio book.
I’d like to say that I finished at this pace without hitting the wall at all. But alas, at mile 14 I sense fatigue starting to affect me, even though my stubborn mental state was scolding: “you’re only walking, you can keep going”. Luckily, the left hemisphere spoke up with the one of my running rules: “walk before you NEED it”. So I switched to a 3-4-2-X. Notice how I’m walking more and walking less. Also notice how I am now running a total of 5 minutes (as was the original plan).
The penalty change in stride pattern was a whopping additional 40 seconds per mile (12:00/mile).. This is still tremendously faster than the 16 minute limit imposed by the marathon. I finished mile 14, and 15 this way.
Since mile 16 was going to be my last, I walked the first half and sprinted the last half mile. I was able to maintain an 8:15pace for that last half mile. If felt great!!
So now I’m armed with the following information: knowing that a 3-4-3-X pace will yield a 12 minute mile when I’m fatigued, it should provide faster results if I begin the race with this pattern.
Also, my ankle did not bother me during or after my run (thank You, God). Of all my concerns, this is the biggest. Let’s hope it continues to be a non-issue.
The determining factor of whether or not I’ll upgrade to the full marathon will be how I feel the next few days.
So Andrew said that he was going to run twice this weekend and in those 2 days would run more than I would this weekend. I told him I’d run 10 mile and I believe he planned for 6 and 6 for the week end. I think that’s too much for him. I mean, he has to properly rest between runs, right? That’s just silly to run so much without giving your body adequate rest before the next run. Let’s face it: he barely started running again. >:)
