Ran 1.71 miles this AM in 18:11mins. Pace over the first mile was 11:05 mins/mile, and in the last .71 mile stretch I managed to pick it up to 9:28 mins/mile.
Not bad – finished faster than I started, felt fine after the run, and had a nice easy run for the most part – I chose a path that allowed me to run down the middle of the road. Running on the sidewalk is okay, except that the majority of the blocks around me are residential areas, which means that driveways cross the sidewalk surface. Which is like crossing a curb every 50-100 feet (or less, in some areas). Running on the side of the road is probably safer, but I’m on residential streets, and the crowning on the road is really steep – the center of the road is probably a good four or so inches taller than the edges. By staying in the middle of the road, I can avoid having to change my stride because one foot lands lower than the other.
This morning I was pretty much chanting a mantra the entire way “toes relaxed, land on the forward part of the foot, no heel strike.” As I’ve said before, I’ve taken a Chi-Running class, and have been watching videos of people using the POSE method as well. The idea is to run lightly. So I am trying that – this morning in addition to continually reminding myself to stay loose, to keep my toes relaxed and to not heel strike, I kept making sure that my chin was tucked or neutral, my back was straight, and that I wasn’t pushing off of the ground.
I was thinking about doing some sprints this morning, but instead I ran and extra .21 miles. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was until I was at my turn around point, and I decided there to add an extra five blocks (that, and the street signs in Portland are poorly placed and not often visible). I turned around after the extra blocks, and decided to just work on keeping a good stride while speeding up a little bit. I probably could have gotten my split time even lower – I had picked up my pace, and had a good amount of forward inertia – and of course at that point every intersection seemed to have a car in it.
18 minutes isn’t a very long time, but it is feeling like forever – running by myself in the quiet of the morning is probably a nice time for contemplation, but right now it just feels like forever. I’m making sure to not check my time right now until I finish. I’m hoping that this will allow me to develop a natural sense of my pace.
Overall, it was easier to run. Getting out of bed was a bit tough, but the run was easy. I’m hoping that they stay that way.
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