Today I was congratulated verbally from Tiger Woods, today was officially my fastest average mile pace, 8.19/mile over 4.5 miles. Digitally its correct, but during my run it sure didn't feel like I was running any faster than before. Today was hard, it was really hard. I have run longer and I have run faster, I have run more hills and less hills, but today I really felt like I was running out of myself, running away from the norm, today hurt.
Now, my normal average is around 8.30/mile, so dropping down to 8.19 doesn't seem like a whole lot faster, but over the coarse of say, 5 miles, 11 second a mile tuns into almost a minute faster in the end. Every second counts.
I run alone most days, sometimes its a good thing but most of the time its hard. I run alone because I live out away from a big city and my friends that run regularly are at a different pace and distance than I am at so someone has to sacrifice or we're still just running alone only with another person on the path either ahead or behind. So the only option is to seek out others who run like you or at a place you want to be soon. So I went looking and much to my surprise found a group locally who happen to be professional runners. This may have been the greatest discovery I have ever made whilst attempting anything athletic.
Running with someone who has been running for as long as you've been alive makes a difference. Running with someone who has trained for marathons or triathlons or Iron Mans makes a huge difference. Never before had I felt so inferior while at the same time felt completely accepted as a novice.
When I run alone my pace varies constantly, I cant help it. When I get tired I slow down and recover then after I've gotten some strength back the pace get picked back up and I try and regain ground. This is a terrible way to run.
Considering driving your car in traffic versus on the open interstate. You will conserve far less fuel traveling at a constant 50mph versus going 30 then 50, 60 then 20 ect. You may reach your gaol in the same amount of total time but in the end if you keep a constant pace you will be in better shape, or more 'fuel' efficient. This I learned on Tuesday of this week.
During our 5.25 mile run through the White Bear area we averaged 8.25min/mile. This is about what I run by myself for the raw data doesnt show anything. But when you look at my speed over time over distance graph (thank you nike+) my pace was a constant 8.25min/mile with the group, where when I am alone I am all over the board.
I started to wonder about running up or down hills, maybe it was the rout we were on that gave us the 'plateau' of perfect performance, that we were on perfect level ground the whole time giving us a huge advantage over someone who happens to run over less than perfect terrain, myself. This was not the case at all, in fact it may have been the exact opposite. We ran a rout that took us up and down, around crazy corner and over all sorts of terrain and at one point over a snow cover frozen lake. So whats was there great secrete?
Training. Plane and simple.
Whether you run 3 miles or 30, keeping a constant pace is the answer to longevity and overall body health. Constant fluxuation is the enemy. Think Tortoise and Hare.
Sure, running with the group was neither me fastest nor my longest run of all time, but when it was all over I couldn't have felt any better. I felt so good, felt so in control that I wanted to go again, something they said was not the right idea.
"Training isn't about pushing your limits every day. Training is about understanding your limits and building on them for strength"
I did not realize any of this until after my solo run today, where after it was over I felt like shit and didn't know why. After loading my run data onto Nike+ and comparing the two it all just clicked. I had more highs and lows than a meth addict putting me into the weeds through my entire run. Yes I was faster than ever (which may be attributed to my day off yesterday) but today was one of those 'wall' days, where every step hurts a little bit more than the last, every mile harder than its predecessor and it was one of those defeating kinds of runs where you just want to end.
Today was a learning experience, and those are always good days.
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