Pace Yourself Dummy

Wow it's been a while. I skipped some runs due to the heat and didn't run while in Ocean City, but I didn't go two weeks straight without running, just been lazy about posting. According to Nike+ I've run 4 times since my last post. I ran on the 23rd, 28th, 31st and 2nd.

Pace yourself dummy. I need to remember to say that to myself before every run. Usually I feel great when I start out and explode right out of the gate, and by the end, I'm panting and counting down the minutes till my run is finished. On Tuesday night, I made a conscious effort to keep my pace slow, and it paid off. I guess if I am trying to set a new PB for the mile, I can sprint for as much as I could handle, but when Im trying to stretch my distance, I need to pace myself. It's really that simple.

I noticed when I looked back at my run on July 23rd, that I only ran 1.82 miles and that I ran my first mile at a pace of 10:26. Way too fast for me at this point. If I slow my pace down closer to 11:30, I run so much easier. Problem is keeping that in my head when I run. I think the GPS in my iPhone is a little wonky, but it's bright and easy to glance at. My old Forerunner seems to be more accurate, and has the virtual trainer, but it's hard to read when it gets dark.

So now on to the good news, I ran a 5k distance the other night and felt good doing it. I wasn't huffing and puffing, I only took two brief walk breaks for about a minute each and ran the last 15 minutes or so, without stopping. My pace times below are a little misleading. I ran the first mile in 10:47 because I think I ran the entire way till I hit the mile marker, then walked for a minute. So that is why my 2nd mile time is slower. I may have actually stopped twice during the 2nd mile. The 3rd mile, I am pretty sure I ran the whole way. I didn't stop after the 2nd time, so I either stopped towards the end of mile 2 or at the start of mile 3. I'm pretty sure it was at the end of mile 2. Anyway, I finished 5k time in 34:55 which was a personal best. Last time I ran 5k, it took me 42:43 back on June 16th. Almost 8 minutes faster than my last 5k time. Big improvement in 6 weeks. I think from now on I'm going to do shorter runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Somewhere in the 2 to 2.5 mile range and then do at least a 5k distance on Sunday. Reason for the longer run on Sunday is I will have 2 days rest on Friday and Saturday. Plus it's the weekend, so I may have even gotten in a quick nap :-).

My question now is, if I can run the whole way, and remove the walk breaks, could I maintain a sub 11 minute pace average? I just added up and diving my split times by 3, and it came out to be 11:03. So I was pretty close to keeping an 11 minute pace with two walk breaks factored in. Ultimately I would like to get down to 10 minute miles so I can finish a 5k in 30 minutes, but I think I am weeks if not months away from that.

One last thing. I ran with low socks the other night and ended up getting a small blister on the back of my left heel. Going to put a band aid on it and see how it does tonight.

I forgot to do a screenshot so I don't know what the weather was at the time of my run. It was pretty warm and humid. I would guess it was probably between 82 and 85 degrees.


Distance Run: 3.16 miles
1st Mile: 10:47
2nd Mile: 11:51
3rd Mile: 11:11

Total Time: 35:29
Calories Burned: 327