Slow Down – You Move Too Fast!

In an effort to get myself back into real shape, I’ve entered the New Haven Road Race 20K this coming Labor Day.  I was actually supposed to run it in 2008, but injury prevented it.

Rather than just running on my own a few times per week until race day, I went over to Runner’s World and used their tool to develop a training plan.  You give them a recent race time, tell them how many miles per week you currently train, give them a distance and a date, and they spit back a plan.  Since it’s been awhile since I ran a race, I used one of my better training runs and figured about a 24 minute 5K.

My problem is that the plan that they’ve given me has me running at really slow speeds.  Case in point – today, I was to do a two-mile “easy run” at just under a 10-minute/mile pace; I ended up running about an 8:25 pace, which felt pretty slow to me.

Look – I make no pretense that I’m fast, because I’m not.  Since I began running again, my best 5K time was 3 years ago (22:45 – about 7:20/mile).  I guess I’m just trying to figure out whether I should follow the current plan and adjust to what seems like an uncomfortably slow pace, or just run what I think is an easy run and let pace take care of itself.

Here I am, wearing the latest in 19th Century protective gear. Makes sense to me, since it'll seem contemporary to the motorists from whom I'm seeking protection.

Of course, pace is not the only issue – safety is also an important consideration.  Currently, I wear a Road ID bracelet on every run.  I’ve been nearly hit several times in the four years since I resumed running, and I want to be sure that if/when it does finally happen I’ll have ID.  If you are active outdoors, or even at a gym, I can’t recommend this product highly enough.

One training run is in the books – but it was an easy run; we’ll see if I’m still Feelin’ Groovy after my tempo run on Thursday.  It does feel good to have a goal again.