i got'sta go faster!
well, to win this bet i have to run an 11:00 minute mile... something i thought was an admirable goal until yesterday evening...
did you know that oprah, as in op-rah, ran her marathon in 4:29:20????????? UNDER FOUR AND A HALF HOURS????????? wtf ? thats a 10:17 minute mile. thats 43 seconds faster than my goal mile. thats insanity... and i cannot let her win. i cannot.
so in that vein, today, i did my version of "training to run fast"... (which is laughable, but i dont have a stinkin personal trainer/chef a la Oprah, so i gotta work with what i got, ya know?!)
so i set out to see if it was even humanly possible, at this point, for me to run a 10 minute mile... um.. its not. well... it kind of is. i dunno. here's what happened..
i ran. fast. (my version of fast, which is probably your version of a warm-up, but leave me alone. i have short legs!) until i got to the track (1.2 miles away) then i ran around the track as fast as i could once, walked it once, ran, walked... then ran back to the gym (another 1.2 miles)
come to find out, when i actually push myself, i'm not as horribly mind-numbingly slow as i thought i was. i also dont have the endurance to run that fast for very long...but we'll work on it.
so today's stats are as follows...
1.2 miles/12:14.... splits work out to be (according to nike.com, if wondering)
1st mile : 10:12(hurrah!! it can be done!! and i only sorta felt like i was going to puke at the end!!!)
.2 mile : 2:02
then my first lap, running as fast as i could.... 2:09:35.
second lap....2:03:44
!! however, i think if i did two laps, fast, in a row, the average would probably come way down. but thats ok, i decided, b/c i'm still new to this whole running thing and up until now i havent really been pushing myself. i've been concentrating on finish my distance without walking.... but who says walking is a terrible thing, right?!
then my run back to the gym...12:08 minutes.....splits are...
1st mile : 10:07 (oooh, a couple seconds faster. hollah!)
.2 mile : 2:01
so now that i'm over the whole no-walking issue, i think this "train to run fast" thing might actually even be fun?! you never know, right?!
Comments
DATE: 10:40 AM
yeah... y'all are probably right, and i will take it easy on the speed work...i just really wanted to see if it was even possible!!! but my shins/quads are way more sore than normal today (also went to a concert and stood on a hill all night last night...might have something to do with it) so i'll just do my normal run tomorrow! no worries ;)
Posted by: a.maria | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 5:43 PM
oh by the way i play around with this pace calculator from time to time...just thought i'd share in case you haven't seen one...http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/4/4_1/96.shtml
Posted by: brent | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 5:34 PM
hey a.maria! i'd say from what people are telling me and from what i've read...too much speed work while you get used to running longer is a recipe for trouble so just be careful and listen to your body eg. if you feel a little too tired/strained on a particular day, don't push it too much that time. that is just what people are telling me though. i like to run a few fast miles (fast for me), along with my usual running paces cuz its fun!
Posted by: brent | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 7:19 AM
I too want to run this marathon well, and not just slog through it. But lots of folks say beware if you try to speed train and marathon train at the same time = injury. But I doesn't sound like your overdoing it with lots of intense speed workouts.
Posted by: BigRedYamaha | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM