I am still "high" after my 11 miler and the time in which I finished (1hr 28 minutes). Brian, from A Runner's Blog, asked how I did it. My answer: I have no idea.
I wasn't trying to go fast at all. I thought I was taking it VERY slow. I do not have a fancy Garmin watch-- or for that matter, any watch at all. I simply set out to run 10 miles and had NO concern with time whatsoever. I felt great and added an extra mile. I was as shocked as anyone when I saw the time at the end of it all. I really thought I took more than 2hours!
I can tell you -- my last few 5K's which averaged around 23:00 mins (PR of 22:48) were VERY hard and I really pushed it--and it was hard-- damn hard. I always felt it afterwards. Yes-- my time during the 11 miler was not at my 5k pace-- but close to it and it truly was a breeze. SOOOO much different than an aggressive 5k. My only explanation is the time of day in which I ran.
Most of my past runs and 5K's have ALL occurred in the morning hours where I seem to be more sluggish. A week ago, I attempted a 10 miler on an early Saturday morning-- and failed miserably. My runs at night, and after work (the 11 miler) have been unbelievable!!! I can't stop. I am a PM runner and this scares me.
The gun will fire for my half marathon next week at 7 in the morning. I am terrified I will be a slug because it's in the AM. I need to break this and I need your help. Keep in mind-- for the first three months of training I ran ONLY in the AM so it's not a matter of getting used to running in the morning. By now I should be. What is going on???
Thanks, in advance!
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First of all, great job on the 11-miler.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can suggest is getting up EXTRA early so you have more "awake" time before the start. Of course, when the race starts at 7am, that would mean waking up by 3 or 4... sorry, I don't know what else to suggest!
Coffee... lots and lots of coffee. (JK) ;D That's a great question but I don't know the answer to it.
ReplyDeletePatrick, you commented on my blog that you were going to check out Fitday. I don't know if you had a chance to look at it yet. I found it frustrating to use (slow and too many ads). Here's a free site that I found that I just found, and like it a lot so far: It's called MyFitnessPal. You might want to see how you like it.
ReplyDeleteYou may just need a good warm up before your run. I try to jog around for about a half mile, then so a series of 50 m strides slowly working up to my race pace. Do the last stride slightly faster than your planned race pace. That way, when you take off at that pace, your body is already primed to deliver oxygen to your muscles.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible your daily activities warm you up for your early evening runs. You might also want to look at what you east during the day and how that compares to what you eat/don't eat in the morning. Are you running on an empty stomach in the morning?
Try not to worry about the half. You'll have so much adrenalin pumping through your veins that it probably won't matter much whether you start late or early. Just focus on doing what you've trained to do. And dude-that time on your ll miler-that's just fan-freakin-tastic!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you get something to eat about an hour before you race. Something that you know is going to settle in your stomach and not cause problems. For me personally - it's always a pre-race donut. Provides some easy carbs and sugar to get me going.
ReplyDeleteAwesome run man! I've done my best and quickest runs when I've left my watch at home. Sometimes I think I waste all my energy looking at my watch. LOL! I'm like you. I tend to run better in the afternoons. I do my long run on Saturday mornings with my running buddies, but the rest of my runs are in the late afternoon. I think my body needs time to warm up. The two times I've broken 20 minutes in a 5K were evening races. Don't let the PM think psyche you out for your upcoming race though. Maybe get up a litte earlier than planned and give yourself some time to get up and running. You'll do fine man!
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