No Speed Limit..Yet

Good morning. Peering out my east facing sliding glass door it Looks like a "sunny" cold Sunday. The blackness of the sky is slowly turning teal green with no clouds in site. Twenty degrees with Sun feels warm. Especially when running. Looking forward to a 10-11 miler with my wife this morning.

Yesterday was a marathon pace, MP, run. What is my MP for Boston? I don't know yet. Why set limits on myself? I know my minimum pace is 8:00. When I started this run I decided to pace myself based on perceived exertion, with a minimum pace of 8:00 minute miles.

After the first mile the games began. I easily hit 8:00 and felt terrific. I actively monitored the Garmin today. Soon I had gone well below my original pace target. I was cruising. How low should I let my body go? I said, "listen to your body." My running was smooth and almost effortless. Should it be, 7:50, 7:40, 7:30? I was hitting paces that have, all of a sudden, become very comfortable. A few days ago during my LT tempo run this 7:30 pace was hard. Not today. In fact, my legs wanted to go even faster. I also felt like my lungs were taking in much more oxygen. Deep, deep breaths fed them. My heart rate seemed low. This is only the first official Boston training week. I may surprise myself. I truely believe I've entered another new dimension, again.

The data below is from my last LT tempo run on Thursday and yesterday's MP run. Aside from the pace info take a look at the average and max heart rate data. Very interesting. What has me really excited is not running these paces. But, running these paces with less effort and with a low heart rate.

Thursday LT Run

Split Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Speed Max Speed Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:09:07 1 230 210 9:07 7:09 145 175 0 29
2 0:07:49 1 98 95 7:49 5:24 135 148 0 89
3 0:07:13 1 75 52 7:13 4:51 150 155 0 89
4 0:06:57 1 112 79 6:57 5:02 155 160 0 87
5 0:07:25 1 98 121 7:25 5:27 154 159 0 93
6 0:07:33 1 79 89 7:33 6:22 155 159 0 94
7 0:07:27 1 112 128 7:27 5:56 153 160 0 93
8 0:07:40 1 20 69 7:40 6:58 157 159 0 96
9 0:00:31 0.07 0 0 7:33 7:10 157 158 0 7
Summary 1:01:45 8.07 820 846 7:39 4:51 150 175 0 677


Saturday MP Run

Split Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Speed Max Speed Avg HR Max HR Steps Calories
1 0:08:34 1 23 164 8:34 7:10 124 136 0 84
2 0:07:54 1 56 85 7:54 5:45 135 151 0 88
3 0:07:39 1 72 66 7:39 5:58 145 155 0 90
4 0:07:34 1 52 105 7:34 5:41 149 152 0 90
5 0:07:27 1 79 108 7:27 5:54 150 154 0 91
6 0:07:32 1 85 59 7:32 5:58 149 152 0 86
7 0:07:29 1 62 92 7:29 5:39 148 154 0 88
8 0:07:18 1 43 20 7:18 6:44 155 158 0 91
9 0:00:34 0.08 0 3 7:08 6:47 157 158 0 8
Summary 1:02:04 8.08 476 702 7:40 5:39 144 158 0 716


Thursday: 8.07 miles, Avg pace 7:39, avg hr 150

Saturday: 8.08 miles, Avg pace 7:40, avg hr 144

I could have really gone low yesterday. It would have been a great day to run a 1/2 marathon race. The sky's the limit.


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" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."