I am a good runner! I am a good runner! I am a good runner! I need to keep repeating this! :) I'm still riding my 5K PR high. Though, I can hardly believe that I ran a 20:30 and pr'ed by 2:05, I'll take it! Now, I'm even looking forward to getting that down a little!!
I took Saturday off. I wasn't too sore, but a bunch of friends were doing there long run on Sunday and well, in all honesty, it was just nice to sleep in on Saturday! Here's the problem though (or maybe not a problem after all). I met up with a few friends (all of whom are much faster than me for our long run). I had 15 on the schedule and beside 15 it said "easy."
I had trouble getting GPS signal at first - so I reset my Garmin at our first water stop which fell directly on 3.5 miles. The splits are as follows:
28:33 - 3.5 miles
7:48
7:54
7:56
7:49
7:48 - this was at mile 8.5. I was starting to get very nervous about the pace. I told Jen and Penny at this point that I was going to "try" to stay with them until mile 10 and then I was going to run "easy" for the last five.
7:53
7:56
7:49 - Penny decided to pick up the pace at this point. I started to fall back a tad and Jen was in between us. Jen stopped for about 5 seconds, waited on me and said that we were going to run together. I was nervous ... but am now glad that we did. We ended up picking up the pace ourselves and I felt mostly good.
7:47
7:42
7:40
3:46 (.5) - 7:35 pace
Total: 1:58:24 for 15 miles (7:49 pace).
Okay, so I need to start believing in myself! I ran with them! :) I felt good and I enjoyed the company. I asked Jen what our time was when my Garmin hit 13.1 ... it was 1:43:48! What?!! In practice nonetheless.
I didn't tempo on Monday (since this run was on Sunday). I figured I tempoed for all of my long run and ran it about 30 seconds faster than marathon goal pace! Instead, I didn't look at my garmin, ran on my lunch break and ran 9 miles at an average pace of 8:31.
I woke up this morning, met the group for a 7 miler - average pace 8:25!
I can't get faster unless I practice being faster, right? The 50 degree weather helps, too! Maybe there was a benefit to training in the FL heat and humidity all summer long! :) Either way, I'm not complaining and I'm going to go with it!
I've been smiling all week and running, too! That combination in itself is enough for me! :)
you *are* a good runner. yay for smiling all week :)
ReplyDeleteDon't stop believing in youself Jaime!! You are awesome!! And yes, all those hard, hot summer runs are paying off now. I always say that the toughest runners are those who train at altitude and in Florida during the summer. I can't wait until the 21st so I can see for myself just how much Florida summer training has paid off. You are so fast!!!
ReplyDeleteDid you just complete a training 13-miler faster than your best in a race?? Amazing. You are on a roll. And to think you never would have run the 5k so fast if you did the whole marathon. Things definitely happen for a reason...yay for speed! btw don't you love those mizunos?? I've had them for the past 5 or 6 pairs and can't run in anything else!
ReplyDeleteWell, Jaime. Sounds like you are finding a new gear!
ReplyDeleteSpeedometer is starting to see some bigger numbers!! Nice job on the 5K PR ... and that incredible 15 miler!!
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