June 18th- 10 mile

The last long run I did was 8 days ago. It was an 8 -mile and it was fairly brutal. I wasn’t running contained as Coach Bennett said in one of his guided runs. My breathing wasn’t deep. My mind wasn’t in the present. It felt like my body was being pulled multiple directions while my mind was in a debate about whether to stop the run or not. I finished the run but it didnt feel good at all.

Last Wednesday’s recovery run of 3 miles felt better because I made an active effort to concentrate on breathing. I wanted to make sure my breaths were deeper and fuller. If it meant slower times then so be it. I approached the Friday 5 mile and the Saturday’s 3.66 run (was supposed to be 3 miles but I felt like experimenting with altering my running course a little bit) with that attitude. Didn’t have any PR’s but it felt good.

This morning I wrapped up my week 5 long run with a 10 mile run.

Split times:

1. 10:25
2. 10:04 (fastest)
3. 10:11
4. 10:23
5. 10:24
6. 10:38
7. 10:22
8. 10:23
9. 10:38
10. 11:11

Miles 9 and 10 should have a bit of an asterisk by them. On the back half of the run, I had to use the bathroom for (shall we say) a particularly lengthy visit. I was attempting to save it for after the run was finished bit. Nature got the best of me at I paused the run to use the facilities at the Cedar Falls Dog Park- less than a mile from home.

Normally, this would have discouraged me because when I start a run, I do not like to take breaks during it. But I have come to the conclusion that something like this is probably going to happen at the IMT Des Moines Marathon this October. Since I am not in the stage of my running life where I am in the hunt to put up a Boston Marathon qualifying time (A BQ, as it is known in the running community apparently) of 3 hours, 30 minutes or less), it would not hurt a thing if I stopped. I certainly wasn’t going to let it ruin my 10 mile run accomplishment. Will I be looking for tips and putting things into practice to cut down on the times when this happens? Yes. But for now, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.

This mornings run found me joining the Cedar Prairie Trail by the dog park and heading north towards Pheiffer Park where I joined the South River Trail heading east. The trail hugs the southern bank of the Cedar River before it heads into Hartman Reserve. The turn around was just before I hit Greenhill Road. As the long runs get lengthier in miles. I will more than likely be following this trail into Downtown Waterloo and back again.

I took off for the run about 6:30 a.m. At this time of year the sun is already up. It was about 65 degrees and overcast. It looked like rain was moving in at the beginning of the run but since there was no lightening anywhere to be found on the map, I took off. Coach Bennett’s 10-mile guided run on the Nike Run Club app was in the earpiece

I took it easy at the start and did not try to push anything, especially in the first mile. One of the things the coach always emphasizes is starting the run right and not pushing the pace immediately. I’ve done that before. I came out of the gate feeling good, trying to push the pace issue immediately and would lose speed and, more importantly, control as the miles piled up.

This time I held back on purpose. I benefited from it later when the coach introduced me to a term and way of running that I had never heard before in my life: a fartlek. It’s Swedish for “speed play.” Coach called for this at about the 6th mile mark. He called for an increase in speed for about 250 meters, Had I started at a quicker pace, I probably would have ignored and pressed through the run in survival mode.

But I did have enough to try it. My strides got shorter and my speed ever so slightly increased (I did not want to jeopardize my breathing or control of the run in a bout of recklessness). Coach called for another one near the 8 mile mark- this time for 450 meters. I pushed then too. I didn’t think I was moving particularly faster during those fartleks but looking at the data afterwards, they do show a spike in speed.

After the restroom break at nine miles, I finished the final part of the course, which wound up at home. Rain was moving into the area. Happily there was also that pre-storm cool breeze and light rain drops to offer relief.

I’d like to see those splits go below 9 minutes but I am satisfied with today’s run.

Next run will be Thursday. It’s a 4 miler.