Today's Workout: 4.5 mile base run, easy-moderate RPE (fasted)
Summary: 4.92 mi, 47:40 total time, 9:41 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:26, 9:50, 9:45, 9:48, 9:35.
I was honestly feeling real tired last night and was really planning on not running today. Even when I woke up in the morning, I figured I would probably spend my time doing yoga/stretching/bodyweight/core work instead today as a sort of cop-out make-up, but when I saw that it was overcast and cooler today than it was yesterday and it wasn't raining, I decided to just suck it up and take my run. I'm proud of that.
The goal was a 4.5 mile base run, just trying to get back into the swing of things and do better when it comes to the heat/humidity. It was cooler today, 75 F, but humid and slightly drizzly. The humidity is hard, but I guess it's preferable to the heat. One of the things I realized today was that I really need to set clearly defined goals before my workouts and focus only on those things. The goal of today's workout was just to build back into running since I was out of it for almost an entire week and I'm not used to the climate, so I really just wanted to take it easy on the way out, moderate on the way back, and hit at least 4.5 miles of distance. While I was running though, I got a little bit caught up in pacing and wanting to go faster, but that really wasn't the point. Today's run was not an achievement run, it was a run intended to prepare my body for more meaningful workouts down the line. I think I really have to set out these clear goals to focus on before I start my workouts and stick to them so I'm not tempted to go harder than I intend to and wreck the purpose of the run. Sure, some runs are going to be go out hard and try like heck to hang on workouts, but today was about just covering the distance and trying to get that RPE negative split.
Overall I'm happy with today. It was a tad on the slow side but honestly I'm okay with this pace for easing back into things and adapting to the heat/humidity. It was nice that I felt stronger coming back on the hill than I did yesterday because I saved enough in the tank. I went a little further than I planned, but that was mostly because the lights were all in my favour on the way in, so I ran a little bit closer to home before I stopped to walk/cool down. Actually, I just looked at the map and it turns out I had made it almost to the other side of the park, which was about twice as far as what I had thought I was doing, so the thought of circumnavigating the park is much less intimidating now. Also that stretch of road is much nicer and actually contained within the park than I thought it was going to be.
Runs do make me tired though. I'm going to caffeinate up a little bit with some tea before I get on with the rest of my day. As for tomorrow, I will either run a similar distance or maybe take the turn around the corner of the park and try to hit 5-5.5 miles. We'll see how I'm feeling and how much time I have. It'll be an easy-moderate base run regardless though. Glad the weather held up for the run today.
Much love,
Jess
Showing posts with label taking it slow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taking it slow. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Back in the saddle
Sort of. First run in St. Louis! Although I would like it to be noted that yesterday should count as a physically active day. Henry and I went to visit the Arch (okay not so active) and then spent about 1.5-2 hours climbing around the City Museum (which was very active). 'Twas fun (for me at least, Henry seemed to enjoy trying to fit in too small spaces a lot less than I did...).
Today's workout: Short base run.
Summary: 3.86 mi, 36:50/36:56 total time, 9:33/9:34 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:01, 9:45, 9:40, 9:50.
The goal was actually to hit 4 miles, but I stopped at the light on Kingshighway and just couldn't get going again. According to Garmin, the temp was 84 F, which doesn't sound outrageous to some people but is absolutely insane for me. And I know it gets way hotter here during the summer. So I'm doing my best to adjust. Will probably be taking my runs short and slow for the time being to give my body a chance to get used to the heat.
I think the shift in climate/conditions is important for me though. I always say that there's no room for ego in training. You have to work at a level that your body is actually capable of in order to maximize your returns on training hours. It's a mentality that I first learned from coaches in the gym, but in reality extends to any kind of training that you do. The heat is the sort of challenge that really forces me to address this issue of ego. Usually, if you go too hard during a run and die towards the end, the only consequence is that you finish the run slower than you want to. As much as that sucks (and really compromises the gains you make during those workouts), it's not a "real" consequence in a lot of ways. If you don't balance your effort and goal-setting properly on a run in the heat though, there's a very real chance that dehydration will get you. The little extra bit of risk in the equation means that I have to be more aware and cognizant of where my body is at and be patient and reasonable when I'm planning and executing my runs. Sometimes that makes me feel like I'm holding back or not working hard enough, but days like today are good reminders that control and awareness are skills that I need to learn and manage in order to be successful both in training and racing.
Speaking of which, I read an interesting article on Triathlete.com today about negative splitting the bike leg, and the author made a point of saying that if you don't feel like you went hard enough on the first half of the bike leg, you have the entire run leg to fix that, but if you go out too hard, you'll spend the entire run leg paying the price. I think I have to learn a bit of this mentality. I have a lot of fear and lack of confidence in my ability to bring races back strong so I err towards going too hard in the opening miles, but time and time again I've shown that I do my best training and racing when I ease into the harder efforts and build over the course of the first half before really firing up all the cylinders. Today was not a good day on that front: I took it out way too aggressively and paid for it trying to get back up the hills towards home.
All in all, there's a lot to be learned from this heat. I'm only really going to get the chance to run tomorrow and Wednesday and then it's back to Canada and a hectic/erratic schedule, so I'm going to try to take advantage. The goal will be 4.5 controlled and slow miles tomorrow. Hopefully building up to 5 miles by Wednesday. But we'll see how everything plays out. There's supposed to be quite a bit of rain coming our way, so the plans may not hold out the way I want them. Fingers crossed!
Much love,
Jess
Today's workout: Short base run.
Summary: 3.86 mi, 36:50/36:56 total time, 9:33/9:34 pace.
Pace splits by mile: 9:01, 9:45, 9:40, 9:50.
The goal was actually to hit 4 miles, but I stopped at the light on Kingshighway and just couldn't get going again. According to Garmin, the temp was 84 F, which doesn't sound outrageous to some people but is absolutely insane for me. And I know it gets way hotter here during the summer. So I'm doing my best to adjust. Will probably be taking my runs short and slow for the time being to give my body a chance to get used to the heat.
I think the shift in climate/conditions is important for me though. I always say that there's no room for ego in training. You have to work at a level that your body is actually capable of in order to maximize your returns on training hours. It's a mentality that I first learned from coaches in the gym, but in reality extends to any kind of training that you do. The heat is the sort of challenge that really forces me to address this issue of ego. Usually, if you go too hard during a run and die towards the end, the only consequence is that you finish the run slower than you want to. As much as that sucks (and really compromises the gains you make during those workouts), it's not a "real" consequence in a lot of ways. If you don't balance your effort and goal-setting properly on a run in the heat though, there's a very real chance that dehydration will get you. The little extra bit of risk in the equation means that I have to be more aware and cognizant of where my body is at and be patient and reasonable when I'm planning and executing my runs. Sometimes that makes me feel like I'm holding back or not working hard enough, but days like today are good reminders that control and awareness are skills that I need to learn and manage in order to be successful both in training and racing.
Speaking of which, I read an interesting article on Triathlete.com today about negative splitting the bike leg, and the author made a point of saying that if you don't feel like you went hard enough on the first half of the bike leg, you have the entire run leg to fix that, but if you go out too hard, you'll spend the entire run leg paying the price. I think I have to learn a bit of this mentality. I have a lot of fear and lack of confidence in my ability to bring races back strong so I err towards going too hard in the opening miles, but time and time again I've shown that I do my best training and racing when I ease into the harder efforts and build over the course of the first half before really firing up all the cylinders. Today was not a good day on that front: I took it out way too aggressively and paid for it trying to get back up the hills towards home.
All in all, there's a lot to be learned from this heat. I'm only really going to get the chance to run tomorrow and Wednesday and then it's back to Canada and a hectic/erratic schedule, so I'm going to try to take advantage. The goal will be 4.5 controlled and slow miles tomorrow. Hopefully building up to 5 miles by Wednesday. But we'll see how everything plays out. There's supposed to be quite a bit of rain coming our way, so the plans may not hold out the way I want them. Fingers crossed!
Much love,
Jess
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)