I've been having challenges with my Garmin. It doesn't kick in immediately on my first mile and then it measures the first mile too long and my pace reading is too slow. It does this often on my Tuesday/Thursday run but not so much on my Saturday run so I think I'm not giving it enough time to load the satellite during the week. I know the pace readings were wrong today, I was breathing too hard to be running a 9:27 pace. I did stay in front of our threesome but was disappointed that I didn't average a 9:15 pace. We had no stops this morning and I even doublebacked at one point because I was so far ahead. I'm really trying to get mentally tougher to push myself harder on my weekday runs.
Thanks for the training tips Dave.
Paula, I think you are worrying too much about pace and maybe pushing yourself too hard (I know, I need to practice what I preach). Why don't you try going without your Garmin on a few runs and just run by level of effort. That way you don't feel like a slave to having to meet a time goal. The times will drop if you are consistent in training.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that you don't need to try to hit 9:15 pace. Assuming that your present level of fitness is a 4:30 marathon (given all the right conditions) or roughly a 28 minute 5k, a 9:45 pace for a 4 to 5 mile run is good. Once you can hit that pretty regularly, you might do better to lengthen your run instead of quicken your pace (assuming that you have the time).
Look at the mcmillanrunning.com website that I posted the link to in my earlier comment to figure out your proper training paces.
thanks for the suggestions Dave. I read the article after our long run this a.m. and I'm going to work up a running program based on his formulas.
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