Running Advice

I ran today and the weather was perfect, about 68 degrees.  I took it pretty slow and it seemed fairly easy.  I never felt like I needed to walk.  Well, not until about the last half mile, and even then, I knew I could go on.  However, my time averaged 11:34 min/mi.  Funny how if I go a little faster, and then after about two miles allow myself to walk, my overall time is much, much better.  So now the question, should I just keep plodding along at a slow pace or try a bit faster and then allow a couple walk breaks?  Which would a real runner do?

I know what I will probably do in my next 5k race......try to go faster and then walk if I need to.  When I did that before my time was 33 minutes.  Today it was almost 36 minutes.

Running in the house

I think I've mentioned before that sometimes I run in the house. It was pouring rain this morning and I wanted to run, so I did it inside. My house isn't very big, but I can do a circle through my kitchen, dining room, and living room. We built our home wheelchair accessible so there is plenty of space between the cabinets in the kitchen and around my little "track".

Running inside must be a lot like running on a treadmill. It is much easier than running outside. I used my little fitbit to track my distance, via my steps. I ran for 35 minutes and did three miles. I felt like I could have run for 10-15 more minutes. It is that much easier.

I may allow myself to do an inside run once a week. It is a good workout but not as hard as running outside.

Getting faster on 5k

It is truly amazing how your body will adapt and when you push a little harder, it shows!

 

Yes, it is still hard. But the walk breaks help so much. I still wonder how fast my heart is beating because my face gets so red and stays red for at least an hour afterwards.

 

Walk breaks

Allowing myself to walk made all the difference in the world! The whole 3.1 miles felt better than it had ever felt. After 2.38 miles I took a 30-40 second walk break. Then again in the last mile. I still finished in 33:47!! Woot-woot!!!

Mile 1: 11:01

Mile 2: 10:49

Mile 3: 11:02

And I never got to the point of thinking I was going to have a heart attack. That is always good.

 

Disappointed

I did terrible tonight running. I kept waiting around hoping it would cool off but when I saw that the sun didnt set until 8:00, I gave up and went down to run about 7. I just knew I wasn't going to be able to do it, so I set my distance to only 3 miles. Rather than 3.1....maybe I thought that mentally would feel like less....lol....I had to walk at barely over two. I think I have tried to do this too quickly for my age and activity level. I really do think I am getting my heart rate up too high because I feel like I'm gonna die.....so....I walked a bit, but my left groin hurt. It didn't hurt when I was running at all, but as soon as I started walking it hurt, so I had to walk slow. I rested a bit and then just tried to jog enough to keep it from hurting but not hard enough to make me feel like I was dying.

Sooo.......I have a new strategy. Set the distance to 3.1 and just take short walk breaks when I think I need them, with the goal of beating my last 5k record. Funny thing though, tonight, my first mile was by far the best I've ever done at 10:46, mile 2 was 11:23, still not too bad...but mile three, where I had to walk several times was 13:20. And I did not try to go fast in mile one or two...I was just taking it like it felt.....

My breathing gets so hard and strong, and my legs hurts some too but not as bad as my breathing. Some times I can make my legs go faster when I realize it is my breathing that is the problem....

Ok, so I am having to do some self talk......I am still doing something not many folks my age do. It is better than being on the couch tonight. My total time for three miles was 35:26 minutes, add another tenth of a mile and I still probably beat my last 5k time of 37:24.

Plan: set the run Run Helper app to a distance of 3.1. Run as long as I can before I get that I'm gonna die feeling, walk a minute or so, run some more...repeat until I reach the goal. Check my times per mile, check my total time and compare to 37:24, with the objective of getting faster, running longer, until I can COMFORTABLY run the whole 3.1.

A this point I am not sure that will happen before May 4th. We will see.

 

5k second time

Ran the 5k again. Still very difficult. Mind over matter just to keep going.

Mile 1: 12:04

Mile 2: 11:08

Mile 3: 11:35

Average time of 11:32. Took me 35:43, basically the same as last time. Will it get easier? Man, I hope so. When I finished I told myself that the 30 minutes really did get easier. So this will too. I find myself thinking if I can just go faster, I'll finish quicker. That is some motivation....

5k

I ran a whole 5k. I was slow and it about did me in, but I did it. It took me 35:47, and my pace was slow. Ive only been used to running for 30 minutes, so it seemed like a big jump to run straight for over 35 minutes.

Mile 1: 11:31, Mile 2: 11:49, and Mile 3: 11:24

I may just have to take a two day rest.

Best time yet!!

The picture says it all.....

I beat my last running pace by 24 seconds! (By the way, I didn't even post my last time at 11:29). I talked to a trainer at work and he told me to forget that breathing technique I was trying to do, and he explained how lengthening your stride can actually slow you down because landing on your heal is like putting the brakes on. So I just focused on breathing whatever felt comfortable. Yay!! Now, I can see some progress!

 

Funny how when I went out to run, I was thinking this is going to be awful.......