Had to be brutally honest with myself during my 7 miler today.
I've put on some pounds and I'm not as fast as I thought I was.
But it's okay. I'm not gonna go sulk with a tub of ice cream or anything, I just need to work on some things before this half next month.
Before, during, after the move... I was not exercising consistently at all. I was eating whatever was easiest. And as it tends to do, it all caught up with me.
Because it was so hard for me to squeeze in exercise, the few times I did make it to the gym (maybe once a week?), I would just bust it as fast as I could on the treadmill for 3.2 to make myself feel like I was still in shape. I would stay in the 8 minute mile range, sometimes dipping into the upper 7's, feeling really awesome about myself.
But that was on a treadmill. And I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I can go way faster on a treadmill than in real life because I don't have to push my pace- the machine does that for me. I also never touched the incline so I didn't have to face one single teeny, tiny hill. No wind, no uneven terrain... none of that stuff.
Now that I've been running outside again, everything has changed. If I want to go fast, I have to do more than push a button and keep up with the spinning mouse wheel. I have to tell myself, "You can do better. You can go faster." And then actually do it. It's hard!
And then there's the old running weight-o-meter, feeling every ounce of extra weight pulling you down. Not enjoyable.
So! I have six weeks until this race. Today I worked really hard and I did 7 miles at a 9:14 pace. 9:14 is not bad, it's just that I had to work so dang hard for it. My training goals for the next six weeks are to drop a few pounds by eating right (uh.. and eating less... chocolate... and ice cream...) and to push my pace on my shorter runs so I can be more comfortable running a teeny bit faster on my long runs.
Okay! Here goes!
Oh man I totally feel you on this one. When I started running again after having Cam I pretty much did all of my runs on the treadmill because it was winter. Then when the weather got nice I still ran on the treadmill because I didn't need a babysitter to do it, so I only ever ran outside for my long runs and I was always amazed at how much harder they were! I was easily running 9 min miles on the treadmill and then I'd go outside and be pushing to stay under 10! Now I try to run outside at least once during the week and once for my long run so I can get used to hills, wind resistance and all that other stuff you were talking about.
ReplyDelete9:14 pace is awesome though for a 7 miler! I try to keep my long runs around a 9:15-9:30 pace so I think that's perfect! 6 weeks is plenty of time to get yourself to the point where you'll feel like it's easy again. And from your pics I would not think that you need to drop a few pounds but I have read that every pound you lose increases your speed by like 3 seconds per mile! I was kind of motivated when I heard that. ; ) In fact, kind of wishing I didn't eat half a pan of apple crisp this evening because I'm sure that will probably be adding a few seconds per mile to tomorrow's run! ; )