Friday, March 2, 2012

GPS tracking. No more estimating

Last night I downloaded a free App called MapMyRun. It is a GPS locator which will map my location when I am running, so I can find out exactly how far I am running and how long it is taking me. My run today was 27 minutes, so 3 minutes shy of the 30 minute mark, which I am apparently supposed to be able to run 5k in.

Definitely not happening anytime soon.
According to my GPS I ran 3.06km in my 27 minutes, which averaged just shy of 9 minutes a Km. Not exactly close to 5k. I have two runs left until I hit the 30 mark, and I am hoping I can get closer to the 4k mark when I get there. Today was a harder run because we got hit with a Chinook Wind a little before I headed out for my run. Wind is nice.. keeps you cool while running.. but when you are a beginner, running directly into the wind for a little over a third of your run, it definitely slows you down. I was really struggling to just keep running when the wall of wind hit me. I was actually a little cold, had to put my hat and gloves back on, really slowed down my pace trying to push through it as best I could. I found it was certainly a mind over matter situation. I think it was the first run ever where I did want to stop running.

But I didn't. I knew I had to push through it, build up that resistance an stamina and hopefully still finish my run where I had hoped I might.
Of course the wind slowed me down quite a bit. I ended my run maybe 50 or so feet ahead of where I finished on my 26 minute run.
At least I finished ahead of it, right?

So the goal I have in mind by the end of my program late next week is go get a lot closer to finishing the 30 minutes at the 4k mark, then figure out how to add an extra kilometer in there and build up to hitting that.. All before my first race in a little over a month away..

Yikes!

3 comments:

  1. Hey Kelly - 5K in 30 minutes isn't attainable for everyone! I ran for three years and never broke 30 minutes. I think my PB was 32? You might find that taking a walk break every 10 minutes (the running room way) would help with your distance. You're doing great!

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  2. I think that's one of the few things I dislike about the C25K program - the fact they imply that you will do 5k in 30 minutes by the end of it.

    A couple things:

    Wind can have a HUGE effect on your running speed. Going into a headwind slows you down way more then having a tailwind speeds you up.

    I would try not to worry about your speed at all right now. They say that new runners should focus on volume and frequency for the first year they run. I think that's pretty good advice. Speedwork is what is the most likely to cause injuries, and your body is already getting used to the running itself.

    The speed will probably come naturally, purely through higher running volume.

    I think you'll find, as you lose weight, you'll naturally get faster as well. Weight also has a huge effect on speed.

    When you're through the program, my suggestion would be to add a fourth day of running. Then, gradually increase the distance you're doing on one day a week - making that your long run. If you want to stick with 5Ks for now, you can top that long run out at 7-8 km. If you want to do more, you can start looking at programs for 10Ks.

    For what it's worth, it took me almost a year of running before I could run 5K in 30 minutes. Even now, that's race effort or speedwork for me, not something I do regularly in training.

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  3. Thanks guys.. I definitely don't expect to hit 5k in 30 minutes. Based on where I am now, I think I would be look at almost 45 minutes, which seems pretty damn slow:) I need to be able to hit that 5k mark for the race at least.. no real goal as to what speed I do it in. At least I get to watch my PB time go own and down each time, right?:)

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