Friday, November 16, 2007

Focusing on the basics - the 5K!

I had another awesome run this morning! I did just a 5K run but I continued to keep up my pace. This time I averaged 9'53"/mi - when I ended my Nikeplus workout, the voice of my buddy, Lance (as in Armstrong, thank you very much), entered my earbuds to let me know that I had recorded a new best time for the 1 mile distance. Lance forgot to mention that I also recorded my new best 5K time, as well. Silly guy.

Anyway, it was tough as my heart rate went sky high during this run - it's amazing to think that all my half marathons were at this pace! Like most runners, I somehow manage to run much faster in timed races than in my regular workouts - it's always a fun surprise to see where I end up. Except in the case of the full marathon, but I'll get there!

So I think this is something I will try to do every week - a short 5K run with the goal of improving my pace. Because it's only three miles, hopefully this is something I can easily squeeze in before work. Also, during my last two runs, I sped up toward the end - similar to race day. I'm going to continue this as well.

I didn't really do this during the past training season - my only speedwork was at TNT track workouts. Otherwise, all my other runs, whether they were my 4 mile run around the neighborhood or my 20 mile long run with the Nike Club Run SF, were pretty much the same - jogging at a comfortable pace. I was more focused on just covering the distance.

I think this will be a fun change. Plus - my other motivator to keep my pace up during these 5Ks is to get to work on time!

1 comment:

Greg On the Run said...

That's the way to do it. Push yourself over a short distance in order to improve your time in the longer distance. isn't it amazing when you look back and see how far you've come?

Found you on the Complete Running Network.

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