It was never my goal (or desire), but I am becoming a faster runner.   I won’t be challenging the likes of Allyson Felix or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.  I don’t have an explosive start like them…  🙂  Give me some time to work on my start!

I am getting faster, though.  During my last long run (16 miles on 11/29  – the DAY AFTER Thanksgiving), my RunCoach plan was to run an average of 11:38 minute miles.  I ran it in 11:20.  I know that’s not a huge difference, but it’s a big deal when you consider that when I started training for this next marathon, my target pace was around 12:40.  Yep – a whole minute slower than the 11:38 target.  THAT IS A BIG DEAL to me.

My dh ran with me and I realized something else.  It can get a little lonely running for 3 hours alone.  I have been doing a better job of ‘enjoying’ my surroundings, but sometimes, it’s just plain boring – especially if I’ve run the route before.  It was nice to have someone else with me, even if it was just to know he was there.  Is that weird?

Something else that I’ve been working on is not looking at my GPS watch so often.

I’ve been told (by dh) that I look at it too much.  I will concede that I PERHAPS look at it a TAD too often, but since my runs are all at some target pace, I feel like I NEED to look at at least a little bit.  I have a terrible tendency of running out too fast or speeding up and going too fast and the coming to a sad, crashing halt.  But, I have been working on not looking just for the heck of it.  If I feel like I’m speeding up and that I can’t maintain that pace, I’ll look at my GPS to make a decision about going slower or faster.

On Friday, I looked at my watch and decided that I was going too fast.  I slowed down and eventually sped back up and basically kept that ‘fast’ pace until I hit a hilly area of the route.  I kept thinking “Oh, this isn’t good.  I should slow down” but it felt good, so I kept going.  I never really crashed or ran out of energy.  I slowed down pretty significantly when I hit the hilly parts because they made my hip hurt a little bit, but after I ran through that area, I sped back up.

The last mile of my run was downhill and it is GREAT!  Running downhill hurts my knees a little bit but last week, I ran downhill like I was on fire!  It was crazy.  I was in my own little world.  When I looked at my watch, I could not believe i was running 8:43 mm. I know it was downhill, but still…  It felt great even if it was only for a little bit.

So, I know that last mile helped with my overall 11:20 pace 🙂

Anyhow…  On to the next week of training.  I have been struggling with some knee pain for about a week.  I didn’t run today – trying to give it some rest.  I’ve been icing and using The Stick, too.

I’m doing some track stuff (5-6 miles worth) in the morning.  Wish me luck!

Until next time.