Day 233, 132 To Go

August 21, 2013

Wednesday...halfway through the week.  As far from Monday as it is close to Friday.  I neither hate nor love the day since the day did nothing to me.  Unlike Monday.  That day is a rat bastard.  I know, on Monday I attempted to be all chipper and happy about the day, but I was lying.  I am much better spirits now that I am closer to the weekend and it is the last weekend here in the states.  Yes, I will be flying far, far away next weekend!  I am getting more excited by the day!

I have been a bit worried about my long runs when I am on vacation.  On the one hand, I am on vacation and I would like to just forget about doing my long runs.  On the other hand, I want to keep on stretching myself out.  What to do?  Honey's house in Brazil is inside a gated community and there should be plenty of safe roads to run on.  The bad part is that it is SUPER hilly.  When we are at the beach, there is not as much real estate to run on.  I will have to run on pretty crappy roads full of holes and rocks and there is almost no pavement.  Then there is the beach.  Running for an hour on the beach will be pretty tough since I am not used to it.  I may have to alter my pace a bit to deal with the hills and the sand, etc.

That brings me to rule #24 from The 25 Golden Rules of Running from Runner's World magazine.

24. The Long-Run-Pace Rule 
Do your longest training runs at least three minutes per mile slower than your
5-K race pace.

"You really can't go too slow on long runs," says RW "Starting Line" columnist Jeff Galloway, "because there are no drawbacks to running them slowly. Running them too fast, however, can compromise your recovery time and raise your injury risk."

The Exception: Galloway says you should run even slower on hot days.

This is the third rule in a row where we are talking about pace.  First we talked about Vo2 Max pace which went off your 5k pace.  Then we talked about tempo pace which worked off your 10k pace.  Now we are talking about your long run pace.  This rule states that your pace should be about 3 minutes slower than your 5k pace.

So, we are back to the damn 5k pace.  You need to know what your is.  You know what?  So do I.  I guess I need to sign up a for a 5k.  I mean, I could use my pace from my last few triathlons which was about 7:30, but I know my pace should be faster than that.  I expect, based on my training, that I can do about a 7 min pace for a 5k.  That means my long run pace should be 10 min per mile.

I have to be honest, that seems a bit slow for me.  I can usually do 9:30 without a lot of effort.  Then again, I haven't run really long yet.  When I was training for a marathon, my long runs of 14 miles and up tended to be about 10 min per mile.  So, I know that is where I will probably end up.  What I have to get through my head, and all of you do too, is that the long run is not about how fast you can go.  It is about training your body for the stress of going a long distance.  As a runner who likes numbers, it is hard to accept that.  But I am getting there!

Here are our numbers:

Time: 25:00

Distance: 2.10 miles

Pace: 11:54/m

Max Pace: 9:41/m

Calories: 187
Avg HR: 105

Max HR: 113

Just another day out on the road for Honey and I.  We keep tearing up the pavement with out consistency!  Good times!

Run for Life!