Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Tempo Run: 7/26/11

I skipped a few days running. Partially due to scheduling conflicts and partially due to sore legs.  I don't know if I pushed myself too hard last Friday or if my shoes need replacing but I has some strange soreness over the weekend.  Specifically, my left knee was problematic.  I just had a dull ache for a good part of the day.  It's possible that I twisted it slightly while working in the garden Saturday morning.  It felt better Sunday and Monday and I had no pain today, so I'm thinking I'm okay.

Today's run was planned to be a tempo run.  It turned out to be a pretty good run.  I started out a little slow for the first half mile.  I used the first half mile or so as a warm up and it was mostly uphill so my pace suffered a bit.  From there on I planned to keep it in the 9:00/mile range, pushing faster if I could.  I did well.  First mile was 9:22, 2nd was 8:47, 3rd was 8:57, 4th was 8:49, and the final .35 mile was 8:27/mile.  I was breathing pretty hard.  I forgot my HR strap so I have no idea what my pulse was.  I'm sure I was over 180 by the end of the run.  I pushed myself pretty hard, but that's what I enjoy most about running.  I like pushing my limits because I know that's what makes me stronger. 

I'm going to start trying to increase my mileage over the next few weeks til I'm up to 5 miles twice a week and then a long run of 7-10 miles during the weekend.  I don't want my pace to suffer, though, and I expect it to be a challenge to add another mile to my runs while maintaining the same 9:00/mile pace.  I added .35 today without a problem.  For my intervals, I plan to lengthen the duration of the intervals rather than adding additional intervals.

Today's Stats: I did 4.35 miles in 38:55 for an average pace of 8:57/mile.  I'm consistently able to run 4 miles or more at a sub 9:00/mile pace.  My next goal is to get my distance up to 5 miles and my per mile pace down to 8 minutes.   

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