Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Monday check!

Monday 8.0 miles/1:13:57/9:15 average pace

I didn't look at my watch the entire time, besides to judge my distance (where I should turn around). The pace felt comfortable, but parts of the route were a little hilly, so I was working hard at times. At one point I estimated my pace to be around 9:15-9:20, which I confirmed by looking at my splits later. Cool!

My average pace for the first 7 miles (1:05:37 total time) was 9:22. Without looking at my watch, I maintained a super even pace. My splits were between 9:15-9:30, with three miles in a row at 9:18 exactly.

At the end of my run I did 5 X Strides. I reviewed my Pfitz book and other articles on the subject last night, and I'm pretty sure I'm doing them right. I count slowly to 30 (probably a bit over 30 seconds), accelerating over the first 10 secs, then holding it until the end. I'm running pretty hard but paying attention to my form, keeping it relaxed and in control. The intervals are short enough, and the recoveries long enough, that it isn't a cardiovascular workout, since it isn't supposed to be (Quote from an article in Running Times, strides are "For the legs, not the lungs"). Anyway, the last mile included all the strides and came in 8:20.

No running today, then I'm heading to Southern California for the rest of the week, where I'll do my scheduled runs in the inland smog/heat (or "Smeat" as I like to call it). :)

2 comments:

Marathon Maritza said...

how long are the recovery periods on the strides?

jen said...

Probably about 1-2 minutes. I did all 5 within the span of my last mile- the first one at the begining of the last mile, and I basically finished the run with one. So in that 8:20 mile, I Strided for around 2-3 minutes and jogged the rest easy. The important thing is that your heart rate is down and you are completely rested.