I went to bed nice and early last night in hopes to get rested up for today's tempo run. Unfortunately I could not shut the old noggin off and "dreamt" all night about a ficticious legal issue I was researching, but just couldn't find the answer to. I am not sure I really slept at all - if I did, it was very light. I got up at 5:00 and hit the treadmill. Run du jour was 9 miles with 4 at 15K pace. I did the first mile at 9:22 pace, then the next 3 at 9:13. I discovered quickly that my treadmill HRM really stinks. My HR would go from 145 to 165 in a matter of seconds and bounce all over. So I ran upstairs and got the trusty garmin.I started my tempo at a 7:35 pace and decided that was just too fast. My PR for the half is 7:29ish and I know I am currently no where near that fitness level. So I upped it to 7:41 until I hit mile 3.25 and then kept increasing incrementally so that I finished up at a 7:13 pace. HR varied from mid 170s to mid 180s. Not too bad, but I keep reading the treadmill is much easier than running outside and I should estimate adding on 15 secs per mile. Why the heck is it that the darn thing always feels harder to me?
Finished the last mile by starting at 9:05 pace and bumping it up gradually every .1. Ended at a 7:30 pace. In the end, I was really glad to have gotten in my workout despite a terrible night sleep.
I am adding an extra 5 mile easy run this week to bump me up to 50 mpw. I am really excited about that. I am a bit worried about my 18 miler this weekend. It is PURE ice outside and not supposed to warm up any time soon. I don't think I can run 18 with my microspikes on, but I am wholly doubtful I can (or want to) run 18 on the mill. We'll see.
I am also working on improving my nutrition/hydration. I have been skipping breakfast lately (last year) due to being in a rush and not being hungry. Not good. So far I have been good for about 2 weeks. I am also cutting out any alcoholic beverages and late night snacks during the week. Hopefully that will start bringing my numbers down all around.
Happy Tuesday.
2 comments:
I think the whole the treadmill is easier than outside is a bunch of bs--or at least not necessarily true. I ALWAYS had a harder time running fast on the treadmill than on a track or outside. I also noticed a difference from treadmill to treadmill--some treadmills at my gym felt way easier than others. So, I wouldn't take too much stock in what all those people say and I wouldn't take a whole lot of stock in the treadmill numbers either. I guess that doesn't leave you with much to take stock in does it?! :)
I agree with salty. I'm almost always slower on the treadmill (even at 0 incline) except during the summer. I think it's mainly heat related. You don't have air resistance, but you also don't have air cooling. Plus, it's typically almost 70 degrees inside.
I also found that my heart rate would start out high and go down on the treadmill for a bit and then back up when I got hotter. I've wondered whether the initial decrease is due to me developing a more efficient treadmill stride.
I imagine that the relative efficiency of ones stride on the treadmill versus outside varies from person to person. If you have a lot of vertical motion in your stride, wouldn't you be penalized less on the treadmill versus outside? Just speculation...
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