Today’s (Yesterday’s, Actually) Run
Time – 45:21
Distance – 5.0 miles
Pace – 9:02 min/mi
Elevation – 73 ft.
Day off, then group run with the Runwell group. I started late, caught up to the front of the pack, and hung with them for 2.5 miles. I turned around and decided to keep up the fast pace back to the store. The negative split showed that I can finish fast, even at 5 miles with a LOW 9:00/mile pace. I’m happy with the way that my fitness is coming together! New fastest 5K (27:50) and two mile with back-to-back sub–9:00’s. All of that running at sub–145 BPM heart rate is showing itself.
Why I Believe in Long, Slow Mileage
You can’t type “Running” into YouTube or Google and not come across a video or blog post about the benefits of long, slow running. I was, for a number of years, a mixed believer on the subject. I knew that running a little slower would keep me from getting hurt, but as a triathlete all those years ago, I only had two or three days a week available to run, so I had to make the most of it. Now that I’m only running for the most part, I’m finding that I can’t (and, frankly, I don’t want to) run hard every time I go out.
I like to run. I like to run as often as I can. I would run every day if I thought that I could get away with it, but the Wife and the kids would probably hide my running shoes if I did. Instead, I make it a point to run at least 5 days a week. This means that I have to run a couple of those days back-to-back, which slows down a few of these runs in order to remain injury-free. Plus, as I’ve been getting back into running, hard and fast hasn’t really been a possibility.
The Apple Watch affords me the luxury of knowing (at some level) a relative heart rate. I can, therefore, run based on a number that corresponds to different thresholds. Having done a little bit of internet research, I concluded that my running needed to be below 145 BPM in order to be an “easy run.” This correlated to a pace in the mid–12:00/mile at the beginning. A near crawl by most standards.
Perseverance…along with a willingness to look silly as I shuffled down the road…soon paid dividends. The pace moved to the low–12’s, then the 11’s, and into the 10’s. Thus we arrive at my run yesterday, in which I held it together with the fastest group (not running fast, mind you, but the lead pack, nonetheless) for 2.5 miles. All of this with a heart rate below 156 BPM for that part of the run. This would be how I would expect to race a 10K. It’s that kind of pace!
Apparently, I’m much faster than I thought. I’m not going to be meeting any of my other goals anytime soon, but I’m on the right track. Perhaps it IS time for that mile time trial…
I Will Run Today 