Wednesday, March 09, 2011

9 Lonely Miles

Wednesday, March 09, 2011  at 4:27 PM
Sunday was the day to see how I could handle 9 miles by myself.  All the other long runs preparing for the Holy Half Marathon (except one) had been with somebody else, so this run was a bit different.  Jennifer and I mapped out a 9 mile route that we had run most of before.  It was basically downhill at the beginning, flat through the middle, and then uphill for the rest with a bit of downhill at the end.  Here's what the elevation vs. the speed looked like after I uploaded the info into Garmin Training Center...

My goals with Nick have been to be in the 9:20/mile and above range.  This day, since I was running by myself, I wanted to average 9:00/mile which is just under my goal average for race day.  Jenn, as usual, was shooting for her race goal of 11:27/mile.

It was a really beautiful day, but we were still cold when we started.  The sun came out within the first couple miles and made our run really nice.  Everything was going super well until about mile 4.  That's when I started to get bored, and my mind started drifting.  I've got this issue, and maybe I'm the only one, but I CANNOT think about finishing the run and going from running to walking.  If I think about that, then my body just wants to shut down and walk.  It seemed like that's all I could think about after mile 4.  My goal of being mentally tough and learning to suffer was really tough for the rest of the run.  It was nice to get to the turn around spot and then pass Jenn going the other way.  She encouraged me a bit in the short 10 seconds that we could talk to each other.  The rest of the run went much better as I got to the uphill part.  I certainly didn't want to slow down, so I just pushed it to keep my average the same.  I ended up picking up a couple seconds on the overall average and finished the run at 8:53 mins/mile!  That made me feel pretty good.  If I can do that over 9 miles, I think I can do that for 13.1 miles...especially if there's someone to keep my mind occupied.  I really didn't want to use an ipod, since I feel like it's a crutch.  Plus, I won't be able to use it on my half-ironman in August, so this will be training for that too.

Tuesday and today, I've been on the trainer.  It's warming up, and next week looks awesome--sunny and in the mid 40's!  Next week is Spring Break for me, so I may have to bundle up and get some miles out on the road with the ole bike!

By the way, Jenn smashed her goal on her 9 miler and did it at 11:07/mile!!!  She ROCKS!

6 comments:

kessia reyne

Looks like you kept your pace pretty even, which is awesome, especially considering the elevation changes. Way to go, Matt!

Havs

Hey, great looking blog Matt, thanks for checking my blog out! A buddy of mine (a former co-worker) is a Lutheran Pastor in Michigan, it's a small world!

I will be checking in from time to time, seeing how training for Steelhead IM is going! Good luck to ya!

Havs

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey)

Way to go! You got that 9 miles done in great form and a nice pace. More power to you without music. That's a tough one for me but I can do it on race day with no music. Keep up the great training!

Unknown

Great run! The mind is the hardest part of racing. And if you were able to push yourself to 8:53's, you'll definitely be able to maintain that, or faster, when you are racing with other people! Great Job Matthew!

Matty O

Running is 100% mental. I don't care what anyone says haha, that's the truth.

As for Ipods. Hard workouts, I always have tunes. Takes the pain away from me. Easy runs I don't care about the music, I just go and frolic around with no cares in the world.

As for running marathons without tunes, it's not a big deal. To be honest the tunes are not a crutch to me, they are a tool. They help get your body to a point that you won't need them on race day. That is my 2 cents at least. Don't bail on the tunes due to pride :)

Ironman By Thirty

You two are both doing awesome! You are going to crush your goal times with the training you have been doing.

Despite the that hill at the end of your run, it looked like you pace stayed fairly consistent. Great job!

Post a Comment

Dont Be Shy! Leave a comment.