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Under Pressure

You guys really stepped up and gave me some great advice after my last post. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am still not sure what I am going to do about my race next month, but I have a lot of great suggestions and ideas I am now considering. What I do know is I am going to keep running as much as my body will happily allow. I'm even going to try another "long" run on Saturday. I will keep you posted as the runs progress and the weeks pass.

One of the suggestions I have taken into consideration is to run/walk it. My first reaction was no way am I going to walk. Then I started thinking it might not be the worst idea there is. So I tested it out with a four mile run last week. I ran 4 minutes, walked 1 minute for the entire run. My time was 40:13, which was hard to see but wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It took a real effort to focus on the time rather than the distance for the entire run. I usually cover the treadmill display to help the time pass but couldn't because I had to be able to see when to walk and when to start running again. I did my walk minutes at a 12:45-13:00 min pace. I didn't like slowing down too much because I didn't want to lose my momentum. I'm going to try another run/walk effort on a five mile run this week and see how it goes.

I also want to let you know that I finally had a little extra time last night to catch up on many of your blogs but I got an error message whenever I tried to comment so just know I enjoyed reading about your 10 hilly miles, your Easter morning runs, your bike rides with your wives, your tapers, your vacations, your colds and allergies, and on and on.

And before I go, I just want to remind you this is your chance to ask me anything. Only two more posts to go and then you will get your answers.


RUN: When Queen's Under Pressure came on the iPod, partly because the song is awesome but also because the beginning always reminds me of Vanilla Ice.
(This is my cheesy new addition to the blog. I'm going to start sharing something that stood out during my most recent run.)


Comments

  1. The Running Group I work with has a coach who runs sub-four marathons utilizing a 5/1 strategy: running 5 minutes and walking 1 minute.

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  2. I'm glad you are considering your options and testing out the theories. What ever you decide you know we are all behind you! :)

    P.S. Now I can't stop singing "Under Pressure" in my head. :)

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  3. I think you should go for it with the run/walk approach. I did that once during a half marathon. I didn't follow a set of rules - I just slowed to a fast walk when I felt I needed it, but wouldn't let myself walk longer than about 1-2 minutes. My run stretches were much longer. I ended up finishing in a decent time and felt super-strong toward the end rather than wiped out. Look forward to hearing what you do and how it goes!

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  4. Sounds like you are keeping all your options open, which sounds smart to me. Good luck with it.

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  5. they sell interval timers at a lot of running store for like $20 and it vibrates at whatever intervals you want so you don't have to keep looking at your watch! They make run/walking SO much easier!!

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  6. That sounds like a great plan!!! I usually thank the artist with the song that's playing the at gets me up a big hill in my neighborhood in my facebook status.... maybe I should add that to my blog post, too! Great idea!

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  7. That sounds like a great plan!

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  8. I would have trouble with the run/walk approach too but I think it will get you through the marathon and maybe even have you enjoy it more because you will be taking breaks and enjoying the scenery!

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  9. If you have a Garmin, you can set it up ahead of time to beep at you ever 5 minutes, then 1 minute, ..... or whatever you want. That way you can avoid having to stare at the watch and just wait for the audible cue to change pace (email me if you want to do this and don't know how to set this up, and I'll give you directions).

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