3.35 mi Run (8.3.11)

This morning I ran before work. I switched up my routine and didn't run my normal route at home. I also didn't go to North Park. I basically did an out and back with a portion of my normal run as part of it. I stuck with the more level portion.

I started out just going to do a couple miles and do it slow. I've been pushing myself to go faster lately so I figured I should do an easier run.  Part way through I decided to try the 15 second fast intervals that the trainer at work told me about.  But 15 seconds wasn't long enough so I did it for awhile until I noticed slowing down then I might do a few steps slower and then I'd speed up again.  I also did some faster sprints/striders to certain things like road signs or mailboxes. That was pretty similar to my normal. Oh well. I also didn't remember the increments the trainer said to sprint and jog. I thought he said 15 seconds and 1 minute but that was too short sprinting and too long jogging.

In my 2nd mile I had 3 splits of 2:11 in a row. Talk about consistency.  My 2 slowest splits were the 2 hilliest parts of the run.

I came back a lot sweatier than normal. It was very muggy outside.  My pace was pretty good for thinking I was going to do it slow and starting out slower.  The last .1 I pushed it to end fast and had a 7:30 pace.

Garmin added a new column in their splits section that says Training Effect. I got a 0.3 for today. I don't know what it means. I didn't find it within 3 seconds so I gave up. After my next run, I'll have 2 data points and then I'll look it up.

Out and back

I've been relaxing my shoulders more when I run and I notice that my arms don't cross my body as bad as before. I've been working more on my arms and haven't even been thinking about my stride. When my arms are relaxed I feel like I'm running faster. Now I don't know if I really am or if it's all in my head but the feeling of going faster gives me more confidence and keeps me more motivated so I'll take it.

I still have to run 15.5 miles this week to hit my mileage goal. I do have 2 more runs planned. I will do at least 5 more on Friday. Sunday I have to run on my own and I won't be around my  normal running places so we'll see how it is. I want to try the running trail (or bike trail) that I ran on in 2001 for Cross Country. I only ran on it once. I need to figure out how to get there and how far to run. In 2001, a few of us drove everyone to one point (I think in Suttersville but don't know), we ran while the coach drove to the end point. He ran towards us. Then we all finished and he drove the few of us back to our cars and then we drove to where everyone else finished.  Then we drove and got ice cream and Kerber's. We ran about 5 miles that day and it was the longest continuous run of cross country.

Since January my 5k split average is 30:09. If I just consider July 4 through August 3, my 5k split is 29:00.  Pretty good. Shows some improvement.

This is what happens to your graphs when you start your Garmin before you are moving.