Perceived Effort

I decided to run the Ashland Railroad Run 10K this coming Saturday. Last year's race was my 10K PR (45:29). But, I'm not shooting for my PR this year but running with a friend to help him set a PR. We're going to aim for a sub-50. So, this morning, I wanted to see if I could do a tempo run at about 7:45-7:50 to see if I could get the rhythm.

Warm-up mile was pretty normal. Then I picked it up to what I thought was about 7:45. It felt hard, though -- I assumed it was because I had done the Ukrop's 10K only 3 days ago and my legs were still tired. I hit the end of the mile and hit the lap button -- only 8:00! That was really discouraging, not because of the time but because it felt like 7:30. So, I did what any smart runner would do and slowed down.

The second fast mile didn't feel any easier even though I figured it was about 8:15. In fact, it felt harder. Hit the lap button -- 7:50!

So, naturally, I slowed down even more. Yeah, right. That mile actually felt better but, go figure, that mile was 7:14.

Lesson learned: perceived effort is a poor predictor of actual pace.

Second lesson learned: determining actual pace on an unmarked route and checking pace at 1 mile intervals is not highly effective. A Garmin or Pulsar are almost essential -- but that's an expensive solution.

Third lesson learned -- or, maybe just a rhetorical question: How in the world am I going to be of any help to my friend on Saturday if I can't judge pace any better than I did today? (Of course, maybe today my internal pace-o-meter was just out of whack.)

TEMPO SPLITS:
1.00 x 8:53.96
1.00 x 8:00.07
1.00 x 7:50.31
1.00 x 7:14.62
1.26 x 10:14.44 (8:07.65 mpm pace)

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Running Fast Feels Good -- Final Tempo Run

Fast is a relative term, but whether fast is 5:00 mpm or 12:00 mpm, it actually feels good just to occasionally let loose and run fast over a distance. Today was my last tempo run before the Ukrop's 10K on Saturday. Another person from our running group ran with me -- it was good to have company -- thanks, Drew. It was hard but just felt good -- especially when I finished (LOL). I actually ran negative splits:

1.26 mi x 11:22  (warm up)

1.00 mi x 07:21

1.00 mi x 07:17

1.00 mi x 06:58

1.74 mi x 13:03  (cool down)

The third fast mile (6:58) was a real shocker when I hit the lap button on my watch. I really thought I had slowed down and I had to run in place for a few seconds at an intersection to wait for a car to pass.

If you haven't tried speed work, give it a shot -- whatever is fast for you.

Run well, y'all,

Bob

Tuesday at Tempo

Cold tempo run this morning -- 18°F when I left and 17°F when I finished. Goal was 6 miles total -- 1 warm up, 4 @ 7:27, 1 cool down. I got sidetracked on the first fast mile because of traffic and lost some seconds, but the whole thing was a real struggle and the first half of the last fast mile was uphill -- ughhh. Anyway, it was actually better than I thought. Here's the breakdown:

Tempo Splits
1.0 x 8:42.68 (warm up)
1.0 x 7:59.92
1.0 x 7:18.63
1.0 x 7:13.69
1.0 x 8:08.63
1.1 x 9:20.74 (cool down)

I am so bad at regulating my pace.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Tempo Run

Today's run was a tempo run -- I had planned to do this on Tuesday but there is rain and freezing stuff predicted and I didn't want to miss the speedwork this week. The goal was 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles @ 7:26 mpm, and 1 mile cool down. I did it but wow! I had a cold last week and that's really sapped me. Here are the splits:

TEMPO SPLITS:
1.00 x 8:40.95 (warm-up)
1.00 x 7:28.46
1.00 x 7:21.32
1.00 x 7:15.26
1.26 x 11:25.64 (cool down)

To meet my goal time for the Ukrop's 10K, I have to maintain the pace of my 3rd tempo mile for the full race. I'm glad I still have 8 weeks to go -- even then it will be tough.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Taper to Maymont X-Terra

Last tempo run before Saturday's Maymont X-Terra Half. I hadn't done a tempo run in 4-5 weeks (I should have but....). The training plan called for 5 miles -- 1 warm-up, 3 tempo, 1 cool down. Here are the splits:

SPLITS
1.00 x 8:50.32
1.00 x 7:40.10
1.00 x 7:28.59
1.00 x 7:20.06
1.26 x 10:12.30 (8:05.95 mpm)

I'm pleased. I'm as ready for this half, physically and mentally, as I can be. Now, if it just isn't raining Saturday morning because that will make for some nasty trail sections.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Up to Tempo

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Tempo runs are so much more my "speed" than track work, either 800 meter or 1600 meter repeats. The one advantage of the track work is that I can pretty easily check my pace at short intervals -- every 100 meters or so. But, on the road, I am so bad at estimating my pace.

Today, I really wanted to stick closer to my target since I had 4 tempo miles to do. Oh, well. I guess if I can do them faster, it's not a real problem...

TEMPO SPLITS

1.00 x 8:51.33 (warm-up)
1.00 x 7:25.56
1.00 x 7:18.89
1.00 x 7:04.83
1.00 x 7:32.69
1.11 x 9:10.71 (cool down)

Even with the cooler temperature this morning, I finished absolutely drenched.

Run well, ya'll,
Bob

Bummed

I hope it's just this awful heat wave that's hit Virginia and surrounding states, but the last 10 days of running have been mostly awful. It's not really that my times have been bad -- yesterday, for instance, I did a 3 mile tempo run and averaged 7:11 mpm -- it's just that it's been really hard. These high temps and humidity did come on quickly, so maybe I just haven't acclimated, yet. Still, on Saturday, while trying to do 10 miles, I wasn't sure if I could keep this up.

I have tried to change my hydration to meet the heat challenge. For Saturday's 10-miler, I packed Gatorade -- 20 oz of Glacier Freeze (I guess -- it was pale blue) in a used (but clean) water bottle. The training team directors had also put out 2 water/gatorade (red) stops on the route and had water/gatorade at the finish. I still walked 2-3 times in the last mile. Maybe it's just mental.

Anyway, **if** anyone has been looking for a post from me since last Saturday (1 June), I was just too bummed about running to write.

I'm training for the Ashland (VA) Patrick Henry Half Marathon in late August (that should be a cool run -- NOT!). Here are my runs for the last 10 days:

Tuesday, 3 June: 6.4 miles @ 8:07 mpm
Wednesday, 4 June: 6.6 miles @ 8:03 mpm
Thursday, 5 June: 5.8 miles @ 8:55 mpm (was supposed to be 1600 m repeats @ 7:05)
Saturday, 7 June: 10.3 miles @ 8:41 mpm
Monday, 9 June: 5.3 miles @ 7:51 mpm

Tempo Splits:
1.00 x 8:41.73
1.00 x 7:15.08
1.00 x 7:13.05
1.00 x 7:05.98
1.26 x 10.59.49

Tuesday, 10 June: 4.6 miles @ 8:14 mpm

And, yes, I'm a wimp about heat. The morning figures when I've run have been 73-74° with 81-88% humidity -- even to me, that doesn't sound blistering. I come in the house, though, looking like I've been swimming and forgot to take a towel!

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Tempo Runs and Speedwork

Ben, running blogger at The Audacity of Marathoning, asked about how I do tempo runs. I'm not an expert runner by any stretch of the imagination but perhaps what I've learned will be helpful for someone else. I've used Runner's World Smart Coach to train for my last 3 races (half-marathon and 2 10K's) and that plan had me do the following for a "tempo run" -- my goal pace for the 10K was 7:25 mpm:

1 mile warm-up -- I ran at an easy run pace, about 90 seconds per mile slower than my goal 10K pace or about 8:55 mpm.

3-5 miles tempo -- about 10 seconds per mile slower than my goal 10K pace or about 7:35 mpm.

1 mile cool-down -- again, I aimed to run about 8:55 mpm but it was usually closer to 8:15 mpm.

Tempo Run distances for an 11 week 10K training program:

Weeks 1 and 3 were 3 miles @ 7:36
Weeks 4 and 7 were 4 miles @ 7:40 & 7:35
Weeks 8 and 10 were 5 miles @ 7:40 & 7:35

Weeks 2, 5 and 9 were speedwork -- 800 meter repeats on a local high school track at about 45 seconds per mile faster than my goal 10K pace, about 1 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool-down, and 400 meter easy jogs between repeats:

Week 2 (3x800 meters @ 3:24 min)
Week 5 (4x800 meters @ 3:22 min)
Week 9 (5x800 meters @ 3:20 min)

Weeks 6 and 11 were easy weeks so no tempo runs or speedwork runs.

I normally end up running the tempo runs a bit faster than the suggested goal. They are hard but satisfying. The speedwork repeats were usually right on target. The repeats are real killers and I hate doing them, but they do seem to help.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Hard Tempo Run

Tempo run this morning. I started out and thought, There is no way but let's just see.

TEMPO SPLITS
1.00 x 8:45.09
1.00 x 7:27.93
1.00 x 6:58.83
1.00 x 6:45.44
1.26 x 10:02.14 (7:57.89 mpm pace)

The weird thing is that each of the fast miles felt slower than the previous one. I wonder why that is.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Running Hard Feels Good

There's something about Wednesdays. It's so hard for me to get out and run on that day. True to form, yesterday, I slept a little later and didn't do my tempo run. This morning, I headed out and decided to pick up the pace. Since I'm not following a particular training plan at the moment, I didn't really have a goal in mind. Most of my runs in the last 3 weeks have seemed very difficult so I didn't really think I would be at peak performance and just planned to run hard and see what happened.

After a nice, easy warm-up mile, the first tempo mile surprised me and I was sure I couldn't keep that pace up. Sure enough, I felt like I slowed a bit and was even more surprised when I was a fraction of a second faster. Mile three of the tempo part was definitely slower, especially since that mile has some hills and actually ends on an uphill. I about fell over when I hit the lap button on my watch and was 20 seconds+ faster than on either of the previous 2 miles. Ending with a couple of slower miles (I was TIRED), it was quite a satisfying run -- nice to have a really good one for a change.

TEMPO LAP TIMES:
1 x 9:07.34
1 x 7:10.85
1 x 7:10.60
1 x 6:50.02
1 x 8:15.23
1.103 x 8:42.22 (7:53.46 mpm pace)

I hope your run today is as satisfying.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Final Tempo Run B/f 10K

I and 30,000 of my closest friends will be running the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K (Richmond, VA) on Saturday. I hear it's the 4th or 5th largest 10K in the US. Should be fun. I hope to break 45:00.

Today was my last tempo run. The plan said to run a warm-up mile, 3 miles at 7:27 mpm, then a cool-down mile. My plan was to just run as fast as I felt like I could for the 3 miles. I was very pleased and feel like I'm ready for Saturday:

TEMPO SPLITS
1.00 x 8:47.36
1.00 x 7:16.06
1.00 x 6:54.35
1.00 x 6:47.11
1.26 x 9:35.08 (7:36.41 mpm)

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Ashland 10K Railroad Run

The YMCA 10K training group suggested that participants run the Ashland 10K Railroad Run today as a training run for the Richmond 10K in 3 weeks. Sounded good, so I signed up.

I must have signed up early because I had bib #12. I decided to treat this run as a tempo run. My tempo run was originally scheduled for this past Wednesday but jet lag from the South Africa trip has really hit me this time. The plan this week called for a 7 miler: 1 mile warm-up, 5 miles X 7:40, and 1 mile cool down. So, I figured I'd aim for about 8:15 for the first mile, then do the last 5.2 miles at roughly 7:40. That would be just over 48:00 for the 10K -- a really good warm-up.

Ashland is a smallish town north of Richmond. Around here, they have a reputation for running good races. This was no exception. There were about 338 participants in the 10K. The weather was perfect -- a cool 48-50° at the start. Cool enough to be chilly in a short-sleeved running shirt waiting for the race to begin but great once we started. The course was pretty flat (my plot is off -- I missed both the start and finish spots) -- I don't think the variation was more than about 20'.

We got off at 9AM and I held back to an easy pace. It's hard to get passed by so many folks. I didn't see the 1 mile marker but at about 8:20, picked up the pace. It felt really good, almost too good. I hit the 2 mile mark at 14:55. Mile 3 passed at 22:something; Mile 4 at 29:something. At mile 4, we were on a downhill and I knew we were going to have to come back up that hill. Still felt really good. The turn-around point came at the top of a hill. I hit mile 5 going uphill at 36:37 and was beginning to feel tired. Just before mile 6, one of the course officials said there was only 1/4 mile remaining (OK, I can hold this pace that long). Mile 6 passed at 44:00 and I realized I was not only going to beat my 48:00 target but I was going to beat my 47:00 goal time for the Richmond 10K and, unless I passed out, was going to actually break 46:00. There was one person in front of me that I had a chance of passing by the finish so I picked it up a bit -- might as well leave it all on the road (in the end, I thought I was going to leave it all in the bushes). I crossed the finish at 45:29 -- 45th out of 338 and 4th in my age group (50-54). I'm still in shock.

Someone asked me if this was a PR. Yeah -- it's actually my first 10k race. Three weeks until the Richmond 10K.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Wednesday's Tempo Run on Thursday

When we got news on Tuesday night about the tornado(s) that hit Union University, I spent the next several hours getting confirmation that children of our organization's personnel were all accounted for and safe. They were and it is miraculous. But, that meant that I didn't get to bed until the wee hours of the morning so I postponed the tempo run that was on the plan for Wednesday (any excuse to postpone that will work for me). So, I did the run this morning.

The goal was an easy 1st mile, 3 miles at 7:36 mpm, and then an easy 5th mile. I felt great. In fact, I felt like I could have maintained the <7:36 pace for another mile or two.

Tempo Splits
1.00 x 9:29
1.00 x 7:33
1.00 x 7:20
1.00 x 7:06
1.16 x 9:01

I hope your run is as satisfying as mine was.

Run well, y'all,
Bob