I had my first three-mile run today. My training schedule so far has only dictated two and 2.5 mile runs. Luckily though, I didn't have to do it alone. My friend and co-worker Sarah is training for a half marathon, and she had to run three miles today as well.
I picked up Sarah this morning, and we headed to the Lake shore path. I didn't think I'd be running outside in early February, but today's weather was perfect. Instead of the weather hoovering between 10 and 20 degrees (as it has the past few weeks), Sarah and I we greeted with nice mid-thirties weather. She brought her Garmin forerunner so we were able to check our time, pace and distance constantly throughout our run.
I'm happy to say we finished, but I'm not happy to report our pace. Sarah assured me that I should be proud of the pace I ran and the distance we went. Our overall time was 34: 38 with an average pace of 11:33. That's about my average pace, so it's good that we didn't go any slower. I, however, looked at that time and thought I have a long way to go before I reach a 10-minute mile pace. And I'm not certain if it's an attainable pace to reach by the time I run the Shamrock Shuffle in late March.
I do have some hope though. This was my first time running three miles in about 10 months. It's also been a while since I ran on pavement. And in my standard treadmill training I've been getting faster. I ran 2.5 miles at a 10:36 pace on Thursday. So I can get better. I will get better. I just have little faith in myself that I'll be able to run 5 miles in two months and finish that race in under 50 minutes. Stupid 2009 goals.
My negative attitude may have been brought on in part by something that rocked my running confidence yesterday. My mom called and was telling me about her work out regimen with her new Nintendo Wii. For the first time, she did a free run on the program the other day. During the free run, the player runs in place for 10 minutes and when the 10 minutes are up, Wii informs the player how far they would have gone in that time had they been running on a track. My mom's distance - 1.6 miles. 1.6 miles! That's roughly a 7 minute per mile pace. I don't doubt my mom was able to do this, but it was a little disheartening to think while I was running today that theoretically my mom (a woman who've I've seen run maybe twice in my entire life) would have passed me and probably doubled back and passed me again.
2 comments:
Okay, remember what I said about not trying to run at that pace every time you head out? You will not be able to maintain that pace for a longer run when it's your first time doing that distance in a while. It's really not smart to try even, and it's not good for your body. Don't worry, your 3-mile time will get faster the more you do them... Don't beat yourself up! You're doing great with your workouts and you should be proud and pumped!
The Wii is not the same as propeling your body along with any elevation changes etc.....when the weather gets warm I will try doing a real run. I am curious now what would happen for 10 minutes in the real world. (probably be lucky to do a half mile) Also every try since I have gone a little slower. I found this is the activity that is causing the burn in my calfs. Thought at first it might have been some of the strength and yoga things Wii had me doing ... but bottome line is the 10 min run is the greatest source.
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