Happy Thanksgiving to all. For all you guys and gals that got out and ran a Turkey Day race, congrats. Sure is easier to eat all that good food, after you have burnt those calories.
For me, today was about one last Long Run. I headed out to the Murfreesboro Gateway around 8:45 with the temps around 43 degrees, but nice and sunny. After the first mile, I ditched my long sleeve and ran in a technical shirt and shorts. It got nice and toasty on the run, and I was glad to only have the tee shirt on.
I was determined to go slow and easy, no matter what. They have been talking about Heart Rate training over on RunningAhead, so I was cognizant about that, trying to keep my HR at 150, give or take a few beats. I really need to get a good gauge on my MAX HR, because I am going with the old principle of 220-age with is around 180 for me. I usually train in the 165-175 range, so I'm wondering if my Max is slightly higher than 180.
Everything was going good. I was feeling like my training was good. I was thinking, "12 Miles, I laugh at you." But reality is always just around the corner, in my case, it came in the form of a woman in a Boston Marathon Finishers wind breaker. I had done my plan, LONG SLOW DISTANCE (the LSD part) and was heading back to Old Fort Trail head after turning around at Cason Lane trail head. I was doing my nice, slow 9 minute pace, and saw her going in the opposite direction. I thought, well, she is a Boston Finisher, not too bad, but look at me, I'm all SERIOUS in my tee shirt and shorts with my Oakley's on. 5 minutes later, she passed me, as she had turned around at the bridge before getting to Cason Lane. I thought, OK, let’s see how fast she is. Well, as she pulled away from me, I looked down at the Garmin and saw we were clocking 7:30 miles. I stayed within 150 feet of her the whole way back to Old Fort trail head, where she turned around and went back towards Cason. 2 miles at 7:40 per mile. I was spent. Jeez, I'm not quite as good as I think I am. I just got a big slice of humble pie on Thanksgiving morning. I limped back to the car, grateful for the 2 tempo miles, but realizing that I am not quite as cool as I think I am.
Mostly, this has showed me that I am still a newbie at this. I've been conservative in my races, not really pushing myself to see where I'm at. I have come a long way since January 1st, but I need to find out what I am really made of.
Tune in for the next installment, and I will put out my goals for this coming race. For now, I need to go polish out off some left-over Turkey.
Haha. I've done the same thing with other runners, only to realize they're much faster/stronger than I.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a heart rate monitor, you should be able to find a number that's closer to your real max heart rate. According to the formula, my max should be about 190. But, I've reached 212bpm before (and 210 wearing a different heart monitor). My true max is probably closer to 215. There are some websites that will tell you how to find your max (800m intervals), but I've just gone with the max that's recorded during short races.
It's amazing how one or two thoughts can strike a cord with someone else. Thanks for this post :) You've made a cameo on my blog...hope you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I run, it's usually solo. And I know Im not great (being a beginner and all), but whenever I see a runner in the opposite direction, I always pick up my pace a bit so it somewhat looks like I know what Im doing. I don't know why I do this, I guess it's just habit.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm there with ya when I see another runner, especially the opposite sex. I run taller and faster and think I'm all that and more. For about a mile then I'm slammed to reality.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great turkey day!
Las Vegas is right around the corner ... :)