I ran my first race with the Garmin today, the First on the First 5K in Westerville, and blew my last PR, 26:06, out of the water. It was a flat, easy out and back course and I rocked it, I finished in 24:27 and I was second in my age group. Full results here. My average pace was 7:46. Next time I'll use the lap button so I can figure out my splits.
I followed the 8:00 pacer the entire time until the very end when she slipped back (probably to finish on time since we were going a little fast). At the beginning I simply thought "oh dear god I'll never keep this up" but then I settled in. I was fine for the first 2.5 miles and then started to feel a little queasy. I realized I was way ahead of my goal pace so I started to drop back. But the guy running next to me kept urging me to keep up, and I did. Whatever was brewing in my stomach fortunately calmed down, and I finished at just under an 8:00 pace. Then they fed us yummy pulled pork sandwiches and black eyed peas.
The weather wasn't bad for Jan. 1. Rainy and windy, but not too cold.
Before the run I did a 2-mile warmup with my MIT pace group. Warming up more, and then taking a lot of time to stretch, helped tremendously. I was supposed to have a total of seven miles today but I only ended up with 5. The pace coach says that's not a big deal and I'll do two extra next week.
Now for the cool stuff from my Garmin. All are screen grabs.
Here's a map of the course and an elevation chart. Out and back, flat, easy. A bigger more interactive version can be viewed on the Daily Mile.
Here is a screenshot of the graph of my pace and heart rate. All the heart rate charts I've seen have my max around 200, so I was definitely up there!
The Cleveland Marathon is May 15. I'm looking for a good half to do prior. Last Chance for Boston is on a good date, Feb. 27, but I don't like the idea of the course -- the same one-mile loop over and over. I know a few people going to the Just a Short Run half marathon in Pittsburgh March 26, so that could be an option. The Earth Day challenge in Gambier is April 17 and the course looks amazing. Maybe I'll look for a trail half, OhioOutside.com doesn't have much listed yet but I'll keep my eye on it.
This week won't be too bad.
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 3 miles hills
Wednesday: 4 miles
Thursday: 3 miles -- will probably sub cross training
Saturday: 5 miles
Hi! I saw a comment of yours on SP. I just started my own blog, too. Mainly, I'm copying a lot of my SP blog, but adding more photos.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I just got a GPS, too. I'm loving it! And, pushing myself harder than ever. You are a LOT faster than me, though! I'm still over 10 min/miles (more like 12), so I've never been able to run with a pace group. I think that'd be so great!
And, I signed up for a "climb" like that on Jan 29th. But, something family-wise has come up so I'm not sure I'll get to do it. I was really excited about it. There is another on in May I'll do if I can't do this one.