Top of the Key

Tim had me approach today’s long run by going off feel.  The goal as to my goal finish time at IMAZ, aggressively, that’s a 3:30 marathon.  I wasn’t allowed to look at my watch for pace or heart rate, that was tough.  Instead, I was to pick a pace that I thought I could hold, and then just hold it for 3-1/2 hours.  Simple enough, right?  I started well, a little upset stomach the first 5 miles because i drank a big cup of coffee, and limited water.  But managed to work around it.  I figured I would run 2 loops of 11 miles and double back home to refuel.  The camelbak has really become a useful tool for me.  I drink more now than ever, and the powergels are working well too.  Running by feel really gets you focused on the moment.   My mind kept thinking about holding this pace, pulling myself back a little when I picked it up, and surging when I felt I was getting lazy.  After I returned from the 2 loops, I still had 20 min or so to run.  A few trips around the neighborhood, and at 3:30 I looked at my mileage and saw 25.4.  I was shocked.  But then I scrolled to the heart rate, 148…made sure of course that it was average heart rate.  that’s low z2 for me.  So your telling me that i ran close to a marathon in 3:30 with my heart rate in z2?  Never has that happened, or really have I ever attempted that.

Tim has been talking about how the watch can limit you sometimes, the numbers, the heart rate, etc… it all gets in your head.  Either building anticipation, or holding back.  I sort of liked this experiment.

Rode 16 miles on the powercranks in the afternoon before my massage.  I had more mileage to do, but the massage was more important.  Thanks Jess.