Sunday, December 27, 2009

Loving the Garmin

This morning was my weekly long run. Since I missed my 9 mile one last week due to the snow, I was a little concerned that I'd struggle to run 10 miles. I was very happy with today's results. I chose a relatively flat course from my parents house to an industrial park.

The first mile was nice and smooth. I went out with my new Garmin Forerunner leading the way. I cruised to around an 8 mile first mile. The temperature was in the 40s, even at 8 AM. I only had on a long sleeve shirt and tights. I matched that with a headband and gloves. That was actually too much. I rolled up my sleeves and took off my gloves and headband as I began to get hot.

I ran a solid pace. It definitely wasn't an easy pace, but I'm not sure I'd call it hard. It was great to watch my mile by mile pace on the Garmin. With so few cars on the road, I ran a lot in the middle of the road. That was much better than running on the crowned shoulder. Surprisingly, my IT band rarely bothered me.

My pace picked up slightly nearly every mile. I finally got to the industrial park and was very pleased when I turned around. I thought about slowing down because I wasn't sure how I'd react in the last miles. I continued to be strong though.

There was a pretty steep hill with 2 miles to go. That did take a lot out of me, but didn't kill me. I actually pushed harder and ran my fastest mile. The final mile was even faster, at just over 7 minutes.

I was thrilled with tracking my progress on the Forerunner. It'll allow me to monitor my workouts much more closely and take them to the next level. It's just what I need to qualify for Boston. I couldn't believe the pace that I sustained for 10 miles. I'm definitely getting much stronger. I think the hill running has been a big help. I will continue with that.

Tomorrow is an easy run. Later in the week, I'll be running the Midnight 5K on Boathouse Row. It should be a blast. Hopefully, my work schedule doesn't make it too rough.

10 miles - 1:15:21 (7:32 pace)

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