Project "run slower to run faster" continues. In retrospect, my splits for the weekday workouts are still a bit faster than they should be, though they felt conservative at the time.
For the weekend long run, I had another "4-3-2-1" on tap. I've historically blanked my watch and run these off of feel, but this time I used the pace function on my Garmin to make sure I targeted 7:15 pace - a bit slower than I've run these workouts in the past.
I don't have much faith in Garmin's instant pace function - as the GPS receptors jump from one satellite to the next, the pace reading can fluctuate widely. However, average lap pace seems more reliable - once you're about a 1/4 mile into the rep, there's enough data to smooth out the reading (assuming one doesn't run through tunnels or similar). So I set my Garmin to display average lap pace, and I was off.
Lessons learned:
1) again, sometimes slower efforts are harder than faster ones. Though "harder" isn't the best term here - "less comfortable" is more accurate. My heart rate was slightly lower running 7:1x (as opposed to 6:5x - which is where I naturally gravitate). However, holding that slightly slower pace felt awkward and I kept wanting to speed it up. By virtue of continuous monitoring of the Garmin, I managed to stay in control for the most part, but as I got more tired towards the end of the run, it became harder to keep the brakes on. I ignored the Garmin for the last mile and just ran by feel and...6:56.
2) Since this is supposed to be a MP workout, and 6:55 is NOT a realistic marathon pace for me right now, this tells me I need to do some more work on holding back. I think each pace works a slightly different system, and I'm slightly weaker in the system that supports MP running, hence the desire to cheat by running faster.
3) At times during the run, I ran into a decent headwind. When I did, I noted that my pace actually would quicken - a result of me overcompensating for the wind. That habit obviously doesn't do me any favors when racing on a breezy day. Mental note to stay relaxed and not fight so much when it's windy.
Dailies
Monday: Yoga and 7.5 "miles" easy pool-running. Foam rolled in the evening.
Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 1600, 4x800 slower - split 6:17, 3:05, 3:01, 3:00, 2:55. Followed with injury prevention work (no swimming, forgot my bathing suit). Sports massage at night.
Wednesday: 7 miles very easy to yoga (9:11), followed by yoga. Later did 5 miles very easy (8:49) plus drills and 4 hill sprints. Foam rolling at night.
Thursday: Upper body weights and core, and 9.5 "miles" easy poolrunning. Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 11.5 miles, including 3200, 1600 on the track in 13:13 (6:39/6:33) and 6:13. Shame I didn't run those splits last week, on Friday the 13th... Followed with injury prevention work and 800 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling at night.
Saturday: 12 miles very easy (9:26) followed by drills and then upper body and core strengthwork. Foam rolling in the evening.
Sunday: 16.5 miles including a workout of 4, 3, 2, and 1 miles with one mile recovery.
Splits were:
4 mile: 29:05 (7:28/7:16/7:11/7:10) - average pace of 7:16
3 mile: 21:33 (7:10/7:11/7:12) - average pace of 7:11
2 mile: 14:17 (7:12/7:05) - average pace of 7:09
1 mile: 6:56
Followed with gentle injury prevention work and 1200 yards recovery swimming. Foam rolling in the afternoon.
I absolutely overcompensate for wind, sometimes like 20 seconds per mile faster! Perhaps it's harder to estimate pace. It's killed me at the end of races, though.
ReplyDeleteAwesome week. The Garmin "lap pace" (when lap = a mile) is my go-to for everything. I agree you cannot at all trust the instantaneous pace. Even though you ended up running too fast, maybe it's okay? I remember one CAR workout I did that was the 4, 3, 2, 1 and we were running a bit fast and someone said "just go with it" because it felt good, and so we did!
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