METRICS
The sport of running is so obsessive when it comes to quantifying anything and everything which CAN be quantified. Runners track their heart rates, their blood glucose level, their salt to water ratios, their split times, their cumulative mileage, etc.
I ran my third Half Marathon yesterday on Mercer Island. Going in, I decided not to wear my heart rate strap so I would have one less piece of information to stress about during the run. I got so caught up in my last race that it really distracted me from the truly organic experience of running: soaking up the sights, sounds, and feelings of a emphatically corporeal 2 hour period of time.
Freed from my heart rate metrics, I felt more relaxed and decided to focus more on my breathing rate which has a very direct correlation to my heart rate. I didn't count my breaths, but I tried to remain conscious of how difficult it was for me to breathe at any given point during the very hilly course on the island, and make subtle adjustments if possible.
I ran a personal best time of 1:46:56, which is less than a minute faster than my very first half marathon ever -- about a year and a half ago. Although I'm thrilled to be going in the right direction, I'm nevertheless a little perturbed at how slowly I am speeding up.
Here are my splits from yesterday; notice I ran a pretty good 10-mile race, then faded badly in the last 3 miles:
1 - 7:56
2 - 7:36
3 - 7:53
4 - 8:13
5 - 7:49
6 - 8:26
7 - 7:57
8 - 8:05
9 - 8:05
10 - 8:28
11 - 8:35
12 - 9:03
13.1- 8:47
I choked down a packet of raspberry flavored Hammer Gel at mile 4 and then another one at mile 8 or 9, so I'm not sure why I faded so badly in the last 3 miles. I would think with all the training I've done in the past several weeks and months that I could have stayed strong. Maybe I need to tweak the timing of my maltodextrin supplementation.
In any case, my ankles don't hurt today so I am very happy about that. Now I have to figure out how to keep my breathing rate under better control and I think I'll start improving my speed. Stay tuned.
The sport of running is so obsessive when it comes to quantifying anything and everything which CAN be quantified. Runners track their heart rates, their blood glucose level, their salt to water ratios, their split times, their cumulative mileage, etc.
I ran my third Half Marathon yesterday on Mercer Island. Going in, I decided not to wear my heart rate strap so I would have one less piece of information to stress about during the run. I got so caught up in my last race that it really distracted me from the truly organic experience of running: soaking up the sights, sounds, and feelings of a emphatically corporeal 2 hour period of time.
Freed from my heart rate metrics, I felt more relaxed and decided to focus more on my breathing rate which has a very direct correlation to my heart rate. I didn't count my breaths, but I tried to remain conscious of how difficult it was for me to breathe at any given point during the very hilly course on the island, and make subtle adjustments if possible.
I ran a personal best time of 1:46:56, which is less than a minute faster than my very first half marathon ever -- about a year and a half ago. Although I'm thrilled to be going in the right direction, I'm nevertheless a little perturbed at how slowly I am speeding up.
Here are my splits from yesterday; notice I ran a pretty good 10-mile race, then faded badly in the last 3 miles:
1 - 7:56
2 - 7:36
3 - 7:53
4 - 8:13
5 - 7:49
6 - 8:26
7 - 7:57
8 - 8:05
9 - 8:05
10 - 8:28
11 - 8:35
12 - 9:03
13.1- 8:47
I choked down a packet of raspberry flavored Hammer Gel at mile 4 and then another one at mile 8 or 9, so I'm not sure why I faded so badly in the last 3 miles. I would think with all the training I've done in the past several weeks and months that I could have stayed strong. Maybe I need to tweak the timing of my maltodextrin supplementation.
In any case, my ankles don't hurt today so I am very happy about that. Now I have to figure out how to keep my breathing rate under better control and I think I'll start improving my speed. Stay tuned.
posted by Max at 8:38 AM
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