Day 232, 133 To Go

August 20, 2013

In 10 days I will be on vacation.  The question I am asking myself is it really a vacation if you are accompanied by children, especially four children?  I think the answer is no, but I will endeavor to find out.  At least I am looking forward to running somewhere else than where I have been running for the past 232 days.  A change will be nice.

I will also be able to do some hill training and I'll be able to run on the beach.  Both of these are things I have not been able to do most of this year.  They both work you out differently than running on flat ground.  Hills especially.

This week is an easy week, so there will be no hills or beach or tempo or any other kind of hard runs.  This brings me to rule #23 on The 25 Golden Rules of Running from Runner's World magazine.

23. The Tempo-Pace Rule
Lactate-threshold or tempo-run pace is about the pace you can maintain when running all-out for one hour.

This pace is about 20 seconds slower per mile than your 10-K race pace, or 30 seconds slower per mile than 5-K race pace. "The key benefit of this pace is that it's fast enough to improve your threshold for hard endurance running, yet slow enough that you don't overload your muscles," says Daniels. The ideal duration of a tempo run is 20 to 25 minutes.

The Exception: The exact pace is less than 20 seconds slower per mile than 10-K race pace for faster runners and slightly more than 30 seconds slower per mile than 10-K race pace for slower runners.

This rule is similar to rule 23, except tempo runs are not run at as fast a pace as V02 max runs.  These are easier, although the effort is a more sustained effort.  For instance, VO2 max intervals are usually 400, 800, 1200 or 1600 meters in length.  Tempo runs are not about distance...more about time.  So a tempo run would be a good 20 minutes or longer.

The same rules apply.  If you have not run a 10k in a while, how do you know your 10k pace?  Well, get out there and sign up for one or test yourself.  There are also formulas you can use to figure out your 10k pace based on your 5k pace.  Just do a search on the web and you will find a ton.  Here is one that calcs your pace based on your mile pace: Mile Pace Calc

Now, you just need to go out and test your mile pace (which is pretty hard, by the way, but it is only a mile so you'll be done quick).

Here are my numbers:

Time: 25:00

Distance: 2.70 miles

Pace: 9:15/m

Max Pace: 7:58/m

Calories: 268
Avg HR: 126

Max HR: 137

I took it easy today, as you can tell.  Rest week, remember.  Tomorrow will be a Honey run, so I figure it will be another easy day.  I need the rest, so no complaints!  See ya!!

Run for Life!!