Sunday, October 4, 2009

Weekend Update

A short race report from Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon:  I didn't run it.  As Mrs Wolve pointed out to me on Friday, we had a "brunch" for our 19 month old daughter at her pre-nursery school at 9 a.m. on Saturday -- the same time as the half marathon.  I miss enough things because of work, so I skipped the race.  I made a deal with my wife that I could run after it, so I went back to the FIRST workout -- 15 miles at marathon pace plus 10 seconds.

One big, big, problem:  I had left all of my Garmin gear at the office.  That meant no watch for pacing, no heart rate, no data of any kind.  I almost didn't want to run.  I have grown so dependent on it, that running without it seemed like running half naked. 

Thankfully, though, I run the same loop fairly regularly, and I basically know where the various mile marks are.  The problem is that the difference between a 7:45 mile and 8:15 mile is really only about 50 yards, so even though I knew...I really didn't know the pace.  I would know if my pacing was way off, but not exactly, and not with degree of exactness like Marathon Pace plus 10 seconds.  I knew my route was almost exactly 7.5 miles, so I could also know how I was doing at the end of the loop.  And then part of my loop was blocked off and I had to  improvise.  So I kind of had to guess on that too. First loop was 1:00:41, or about 8 minute miles.  Second loop was 1:00:07, which was pretty phenomenal for me.  And when I came home and worked on Gmap pedometer, I realized that my make around on that part of my loop that was closed was actually about 0.3 miles longer than my normal route.  So I ended up going 15.6 miles in 2:01 -- that made me smile.  Nearly 7:52 pace.  Of course I have no idea what my heart rate was because of no Garmin, so I don't know how hard or easy it was.  But I wasn't completely wiped out later that day, and felt OK.  Today, I am stiff and a little sore, but nothing out of the ordinary after a long run.   I certainly had some fuel left in the tank at the end of 15 miles.  Next week is 20 miles at Marathon Pace, so we'll see how that goes.  So, I am optimistic...

Everyone out there running Chicago... Good Luck and get ready for it!  I am jealous... Be safe, smart and fast!!!

8 comments:

  1. Sacrificing a race for your daughter is sooo worth it, good move. It's so hard to run without a Garmin but sometimes it really teaches you to listen to your body and get to know what that pace feels like...still, it's so hard!

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  2. You're right...it was probably better that you didn't run Grete's. If I had known about the 97% humidity, I would have skipped it too!

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  3. You did the right thing skipping the race! Especially after I read The Laminator's recap!

    I know most runners are all crazy about their Garmin's and when I run with people that have one I am intrigued to know constantly how we're doing but I find it so distracting to know all that stuff... sometimes I absolutely love the fact that I run sans technology! It's just you and the open road! :) But that's just me.

    Thanks for the shout out for Chi-town! I will be channeling my inner NY Wolve come race day... send me speedy vibes! :)

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  4. well done for getting in your 15m run. Enjoy next week's 20 miler

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  5. Aww I didn't know you had a 19 month old! :)

    Gasp! 15 miles w/o Garmin? I don't know what I would have done! I would be so lost and confused... haha.

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  6. Awesome 15 miler! I would have skipped the race, too. Family and kids come first:) Your training is going very well, I see a PR in your future:)

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  7. Great job on the run. And I am sure "brunch" was totally worth it.

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  8. Well, if it makes you feel any better, you picked a good one to miss -- it was real hot and muggy out there. I know what you mean about the Garmin. Mine wouldn't find satellites for the first mile or so of the HM and I felt completely lost without that data.

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