Getting my head around running faster

 

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

I missed my mid week workout and hadn't been on a run since Sunday. Working from home on Fridays provides an opportunity to get in a few miles in the morning. An early business call provided a scheduling challenge. Despite my chronic tendency to procrastinate before running, I managed to get out before 7:00 AM and was rewarded with a cloudy sky that kept the temperature down. The humidity was another story.

My running experiences have gone from being exciting efforts that occasionally produced performance breakthroughs to embarrassingly slow cookie cutter efforts. I've used the excuse that I have to watch my speed to prevent further issues with my lower back. Even I don't buy that anymore. I think it's come down to the fact that I've lost the will and the knack for running fast.

The thing is, I haven't consciously backed off on the throttle. Most of the runs I do today feel as difficult as the ones I did three years ago. The difference between now and then is measured in minutes per mile. Every time I go out for a run, I think about going to the track and running repeats. I don't have any hope of managing 52 second 200's as I've done in the past, but it would be great to break a nine minute mile once in a while.

I keep telling myself that increasing base past 6 miles will make it easier to maintain speed on shorter runs. I know from half marathon training that there's some truth to that. But I haven't felt the motivation to push beyond a certain perceived effort. The mind has to accept the challenge before the body can perform.

Hot and soggy but not too sloggy

Mush!

Today's run (street): 4.7 miles

The needle on my motivation meter was firmly in the off position this morning. I watched the  temperature rise as the minutes ticked by. I couldn't decide where to run and no option was particularly appealing. I went upstairs to change into running clothes, hoping I'd find some inspiration through that experience. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on local roads so I headed over to neighborhood #2 for a slight change of scenery.

I'd watched the local weather report before my run and they made a big deal out of the low humidity. LIARS! The temperature was in the low 80's making the soggy atmosphere feel like hot soup. There were many people packing up their SUVs with beachy gear as I ran by. They had the right idea. I compromised on my pace and floated my way south to the other neighborhood.

I followed an extended loop and stayed on the shady side of the street when possible. My easy pace kept it from being a slog but I regretted waiting so long to go out today. I ended up covering more distance than I'd originally planned and it turned out to be a decent workout.

When I looked at the map of my run, I thought (after rotating the map 90°) that it looked like a person driving a dog sled. I may have created a new category of artwork - design by GPS.

Attitude problem

 

Today's run (street): 3.5 miles

I took a step backward this week by skipping my Tuesday morning treadmill run. I'd set up my gear the night before, and fully intended to do the workout. When I woke up, I felt exhausted and decided to skip my run. My schedule didn't allow for any running on Wednesday and Thursday, so I was excited to get back to it today. I shouldn't have got so excited.

Although my legs felt heavy and sore before I went out today, I expected to snap out of that once I got going. I headed out through the neighborhood, but couldn't generate much speed for the first few minutes. My stride was constricted and I felt a little queasy. I was uninspired and it didn't take long to realize that I was in for a tedious run. So much of running comes down to attitude, and this morning I had a bad one.

The thing that got me through today's run was knowing that I only needed to cover a few miles. I tried to think positively about the circumstances; the weather was good and I appreciated being back on the road. Yet, when my Garmin chirped at mile one, I didn't feel like I'd made much progress and I knew I had a lot more ground to cover.

Eventually my form improved and I began to feel better physically. I haven't checked the data, but I think I ran faster as the run went on. Even so, I was disinterested in the workout and only looked forward to getting back home. There are days when the experience of running turns around a bad mood and provides a great feeling of accomplishment. Today was not one of those days.