Running at altitude again (head games)

So this week I was back running at altitude again. In all honesty, before I left I was stoked about running in Hawaii at sea level. I figured that my runs would be at a much faster pace, or at least at less of a perceived fatigue level. How wrong I was! I found it quite difficult to run in the heat and humidity. My pace reflected this by struggling to maintain a 9:00 pace on a good day. Boy would it be a bugger to do Ironman Hawaii in that environment. I have a new found respect for anyone who has done this, especially those that came from the dry air of Colorado, like my friend Scott (Scout's awesome caretaker when we are out of town). So this week back in Colorado was refreshingly nice (cold, but nice :)). Scout and I ran back to back 10's (10 miles on Saturday and 10 on Sunday). Average pace was 8:50 for both runs. I was happy with this since I only managed to run 6x in the 2 weeks we were in Hawaii.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Scout and I ran an easy 4 or 5 in Crown Hill Park w/ no Garmin keeping track of pace or distance. Sometimes I feel like a slave to the Garmin. It's a lifesaver for sure because I would have no concept of pace or much concept of distance without it, but when I wear it it becomes a reminder of how much faster I need to run or how much further I need to go. Alternatively, it can be a great tool. I have run routes that I previously ran before I got the Garmin and realized that they were much further than I thought. It also keeps me on pace since pace has been a big issue for me.

Speaking of pace, I'm still really struggling with "train slow, race fast". This is becoming a theme in this blog as I have posted about it on a few other occasions. Knowing that I have a 20 miler coming up tomorrow, I am again concerned about how fast to take this long run. I've realized that one issue in the past is the way I set up my Garmin. I set it to stop recording when I would stop (or go over 12:00/mile pace). This would allow for stopping for cars, water stops (for me and Scout), dodging other trail users, etc. However, which is the true pace? The one with stops calculated in, or the pace without the stops? On race day, no one will be stopping the clock because I like to walk through the water stops, or because I need to tie my shoes or use the port-a-jon (hopefully not!). So I've changed the settings on my Garmin to record at all times from start to finish. We'll see how that goes tomorrow on the 20 mile run. Stay tuned for the full report!

So anyway, I looked up a bunch of websites quoting "train slow, race fast" or something similar. It seems like as long as I am doing the tempo work once per week along with the long, slow runs on the weekends I'll be fine. Tempo workouts vary from running 0.5 miles at finishing time pace (3:30 for a half mile or 7:00/mile pace ) to running 6-10 miles at race pace (8:00 - 8:30 / mile). Fine...I'm doing that well enough. Wednesday was a treadmill day with 6x 0.5 miles at 7:00 pace with 3 min rest. I'll repeat that for the next two Wednesdays and add one repeat each week to get up to 8. If I could do that all of the time I'd be great. I'm totally comfortable with the middle distance (faster pace & shorter distance) stuff. Clearly you can see a pattern in my self-doubt which is all related to long runs.

Again, this is something that is hard for me to wrap my head around. What makes the fact that I can run 20 miles in 3 hrs 18 min (9:00/mile pace) say that I can run 26.2 in 3:45 or faster (approx. 8:30/mile pace)? I'm playing head games with myself, I know. I'm feeling the pressure as more people (family and friends) show interest, say they are going to be there to watch, etc. Some of you have made your scholarship donations contingent upon my qualifying for Boston. This is great and exactly what I asked for. I'm feeling the pressure, and let the head games begin! Oh yeah, my sister is making up tee shirts for the marathon, so if you are going to to be in Brookings, SD on May 10th and want a crayon orange tee shirt, contact her at lori.wiley@k12.sd.us . The shirts say "run, Renee, run" or something like that on the front, and also say "Inspired to run by Rob Luecke" which is true enough. Maybe I should just shut up and follow coach Luecke's advice and "go have fun out there!" After all, that's what it's all about, right?