Time has moved on and I have mostly seen improvements in how far I can run and how long I can hold my 10K pace in longer runs.
This is an improvement. It used to be that I had two paces, running and walking. I read all these articles about tempo paces, interval paces, 5k pace, 10 k pace, marathon pace, and I had to laugh because I had only two paces. Then I evolved as a runner to have a 9:16 minute/mile 5k pace, 10:16 minute/mile 10k pace and a 11:16 minute/ mile half marathon pace.
Then one day I ran 13.5 miles with a 10:12 pace. That's significant improvement. However, I managed it with an unsteady interval type racing, where I would speed up into the 9+ minute/mile range and then slow down to 12+ minute/mile range. For 2 of those miles I managed to average a high 9 minute/mile pace.
I came to accept that improvement would be slow and measured in a few seconds, not in sudden major gains in pace. Nevertheless I continued to experiment with strides.
I found two stride exercises both online and in my new books. The first are called butt kicks and emphasize the "kick" of running when the leg pushes back. The second is simply skipping with an emphasis on getting the knee higher. You do them for about a 100 yards, trying not to feel stupid (because a 50 year old male can't help but look stupid doing them). Then you run immediately after for the same distance to try and lock it into your stride. Of the two, kicking back has given me the most gains in my stride. Focusing on the kick back in the run has put my pace into the 8-9 minute range with the least amount of effort. Increasing foot strikes per minute, stride length, and bringing knees higher have all felt like more effort in terms of endurance. However, kicking back puts a lot of strain on certain leg muscles and I have not been able to maintain it.
So then Friday comes along. Since I had made Thursday a rest day, my legs felt really strong. It's funny because all day Thursday my legs kept cramping up and hurting. Maybe they missed running? Friday is my 2 hour run day. I decided Wednesday would be my 90 minute run day and I would run intervals on Wednesday. Wednesday intervals both last week and this week went really well. Maybe I would finally shave a few seconds off of my pace?
I decided Friday would be a Tempo day, and just for yucks I would try to hold a 10 minute/mile pace. Trying this the previous week was epic fail due to the gastroenteritis. I was lucky to hold a sub 11 minute pace.
The first three miles of this run I couldn't,get my average pace below 10, and then I tried the kicking back. For the rest of my run I stayed under, not at, but under a 10:00 minute/mile pace. I averaged a 9:40 moving pace, a full 32 seconds off of my previous pace record for this distance. One of those miles was 9:05 (I actually thought I might finally break 9 on that mile), better then any mile run I had to date. I covered 12.75 miles in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 15 seconds, firmly putting a sub 2 hour 10 minute half marathon within reach.
Paced stayed relatively steady, not interval like:
Most of improved pace came from increased stride length, not so much from foot strikes per minute.
Finally, all of the intervals, long runs, weekly miles have allowed me to break a plateau. I feel like further improvements are within reach, including breaking a 9 minute mile, which was a 5 year goal. Perhaps I can achieve this sooner? It's one of the things I love about running. I can never be sure what the next day will bring, or the limits to my improvement. Will I stop at 9 minute miles? 8 minute? Dare I wish for 7 minute miles? Friday was supposed to be just another tempo run, but it became something extraordinary, it felt almost miraculous. And later I found out my son got accepted to a 4 year college - Woot!
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