So this morning I met Lana and Joe at 4:30 at Joe’s. I ran with them for the first 4 miles. My heart rate was near the max. and I was sticking to my plan. So I dropped back and let them go ahead. It was tough. They continued to get further and further ahead and soon were out of site. I was on my own. I continued to watch my heart rate and adjust my pace as required. I was approaching Joe’s mailbox where we had left water and I could see Joe and Lana. Lana was stretching and I knew it was driving her crazy to be taking a break. I yelled out “Don’t wait on me.” Off they ran. I stopped by the mailbox for a quick drink and was off for the last five and a half miles. Lana and Joe were heading back as I was getting close to the turn around point. Joe gave me a high five and Lana told me the light pole was the turn around. I made the turn and headed back. Lana drove by just as I was approaching the end and asked me how I felt. I told her great. I ended up having to run past Joe’s house before Garmin beeped 12 miles. Joe was still in his yard and said “You have no brain, how do you run past your car?”. I responded that I had to get 12 miles or I didn’t finish the workout.
I went home and got the kids breakfast and took an ice bath. 12 miles usually wouldn’t require an ice bath but since I am racing tomorrow I wanted to speed recovery of the legs as much as possible. I tried to take a nap but work called with some questions so I just gave up.
I also tried again to make fancy graphs using bimactive like Lana but I can’t get my Garmin to export my workout. I keep getting an error message that the export failed. So I give up and here are my plain boring Garmin graphs.
I feel great and consider the run a success. I will say that was the easiest 12 miles I have ever run. I hate that my pace wasn’t any faster and feel that I could have run faster but I am not the expert. Joe laughs at me and says “If the plan says to stumble at mile 6, you will stumble” and the sad part is, it is true.
6 comments:
10 minute miles at a low HR should lead you to a 4 hr marathon by race day. Good work sticking to your plan and sending the speedies on. I need to do that more often, which is why I am running (plodding) alone for 18 long miles this morning!
Good for you. I'm the opposite. As soon as I set a plan, I start failing to meet it. Which depresses me to no end.
Michele .. instead of getting hung up on HR; especially a HR range you computed using a HRmax calculator (eg. 220-age), I'd suggest that you test the upper edge of your pure aerobic zone using the following test:
Run 3-4 miles run on a
track at an effort that you perceive as purely aerobic, without looking at splits and/or
heart rate monitor. Just listen to your body and breathe through your nose only. Don't allow your breath to deepen as often happens when you slip into the “gray zone” (this is always my big mistake)
Take a look at your HR / Pace for the entire distance ... this will give you a much better idea as to how fast to run these medium-long aerobic runs based on your body mechanics. Re-evaluate every 4 weeks. As you get stronger, the pace will get faster and you'll ensure you are maximizing your training.
It's tuff sticking to a plan when training with other people. KUDOS to you for that.
Good run Michele. I do think it's just a matter of building back that aerobic base. I know you coulda been right there with me and Joe, but it might not have accomplished what you needed to accomplish. Give another week or so and I think your heart rate will stay down better on these runs.
Great job, Michele. Good luck today.
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