Haven't had time to blog in a while, this weekend was really busy. i did get a 4 miler in on friday evening, it was a little painful to start with but towards the end i started feeling much better. i think the humidity to start the run really hurt me, i kept wishing that it would just rain but the dark rain cloud just hung over me (did keep it a little cooler) but made it so humid.
my overall time for the 4 miles was 39.50 minutes which is 9.57min/mile. not that good for such a short distance, but i am not too worried about times right now, just trying to get back into running and getting stamina up a little. here are the breakdowns of time, splits, heart rate by 1/2 mile splits:
.5= 4.54, 152
1.0= 9.11, 4.17, 172
1.5= 13.35, 4.24, 176
2.0= 18.14, 4.38, 177
2.5= 23.14, 4.59 (really slowing down), 176
3.0= 28.56, 5.42 (really slowing down again), 176
3.5= 34.32, 5.35, 174
4.0= 39.5, 5.17 (sped back up a little), 177
i did have some pain in my right calf and quad and my left side during the run but i was able to run through it. on saturday my legs felt great, there was no soreness, stiffness or pain anywhere in my body.
so saturday there was a lot going on and i did not get my long run done that day so i did it on sunday. my scheduled distance was 5 miles. my legs were feeling so good i thought i might try to do 6 miles and skip ahead a week. it was extremely hot and humid when i started off at 6:45 in the evening. however, my legs felt great, i knew if i could get over the heat or if the sun would go down or get behind a cloud i could make the 6 miles. every time i got into the shade i felt great and thought to myself "i think i will try 8 miles today". well, you know how that goes, the thought got into my head and that was how it was going to be, this would probably be looked down upon in most running circles since last week i did not run at all and this week i was trying to do the long run of week 4 in the training schedule. luckily i had my backpack with gatorade that i was constantly sipping on, but the sun was really wearing me down. when i got to 3 miles i went through a curve in the road and i was running directly into the sun with no shade. i ran that direction until i hit the 4 mile mark and then turned around and ran directly away from the sun, with it beating on my back for the next mile. that really took its toll on me, but i wasn't going to let the sun win. i was a little worried at the 3.5 mile mark when i caught a little chill running directly into the sun at 87 degrees or so, i thought i might be getting dehydrated. i made myself keep drinking and the chill went away in a mile or so. at the 1/2 way point i downed a GU energy packet and drank a good bit of gatorade and started the 4 miles back home. my legs never hurt (other than being a little tired) the entire run. the only pain i had was in my lower back for the first mile (i think this was due to not having by backpack adjusted correctly or not stretching before the run like i normally do) but when i stopped my feet started hurting. i had blisters on the inside of both feet, something i only got once all of last year and my plantar tendon on the right foot was hurting a good bit. i got home and stretched then got in the shower and that was when the real pain hit. not really realizing it, the insides of my thighs were chafed and when the water hit them i thought someone had stabbed me there. i was careful with the chafing area and stretched my plantar tendon the rest of the night and both of them seem fine today. i bought some chafing gel today for the next run. my knees and lower back have seemed a little sore at times today but nothing all that bad. so here are the times, splits, and heart rates of the 8 mile run in 1/2 mile splits:
.5= 4.56,157
1.0= 10.14, 5.17, 174
1.5= 15.42, 5.28, 175
2.0= 21.36, 5.53, 177
2.5= 27.33, 5.57, 175
3.0= 33.30, 5.57, 178
3.5= 38.51, 5.21, 176
4.0= 44.44, 5.53, 180
4.5= 50.45, 6.00, 178
5.0= 56.53, 6.07, 178
5.5= 63.15, 6.22, 174
6.0= 69.19, 6.04, 175
6.5= 75.30, 6.11, 173
7.0= 81.27, 5.57, 177
7.5= 87.35, 6.07, 176
8.0= 93.50, 6.14, 171
these times are pretty slow, but i knew with the distance i was trying to do and the heat/humidity i was going to have to start out slow and pay no attention to time. i never really looked at my watch to check times or splits, i just ran at a pace that i thought i could finish. you can tell the splits varied by quite a bit. some of that is due to terrain and some due to shade or lack of. that gives me a pace of about 11:44 min/mile. not that good considering some people run a marathon in a little over 2 hours and qualifying for most major marathons is a little over 3 hours. at that pace it would have taken me 3 hours to run 16 miles, 10 fewer miles than a marathon. i'm getting there, the way i see it i get to enjoy the scenery much more than those guys that are running so fast.
here is another quote from Vince Lombardi,"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." i thought this was appropriate because i know it was not my strength or fitness that allowed me to finish the 8 miles but a will to do it. a will to keep my legs moving and keep going, to forget about the sun and its heat, a will to run the last 2 miles home instead of walk in the dark, on the road where people would just as soon hit you and drive off as they would slow down and move over a little. really, as i was about to get to 3.5 miles i knew God was giving me the strength to make it 8 miles, there was no doubt in my mind at that point. i could feel Him pushing.
No comments:
Post a Comment