Keeping pace

Back on dry land once again after a few week cruise on board the mighty barge MATSS. Most of the days on board I would try to find at least fifteen minutes to walk around and get some exercise. Some days I would be able to get in thirty minutes of walking at a time and on a couple of occasions I walked an hour straight. Wasn't sure how many miles I did total, I just estimated that I kept a 3 mile/hour pace and that was that. Given the movement of the barge up and down, along with the many obstacles I had to avoid, that was a very conservative estimate. Maybe I went a little faster or slower, I think it all came out in the wash.

This led me to again try to figure out a way to run, be it during a training run or a race. Since my runs are usually defined by distance I know beforehand how long it should take me so I budget for that. Good rule of thumb has been ten minute miles - this still amazes me that I can do this. Not too long ago I was struggling to complete a few miles at a 12 minute pace and now I don't even worry about it.

But back to the topic: Usually when I run I start up at least one, if not two, apps on my iPhone. Nike+ and/or Runkeeper are on my iPhone and have kept me company on long runs. I don't use them to pace me during a run as I have been running without listening to the iPhone. I also keep track of my time on the chronograph function of my watch. If I am running "too fast" per mile I slow it down. I think this is important especially in the long and slow runs. They are supposed to be run at an easy pace to help with my recovery. Unfortunately this isn't the case, and I usually run at a faster pace.

My easy runs are supposed to be close to ten minute pace, according to my past results. If I am doing a speed workout then I need to pick up the pace. This is where my watch helps me out a bit, although there are times when I am feeling good with the pace I am running but deliberately slow myself down since I think I am going too fast. When I run with some in the running club and don't pay attention to my watch I know that I need to run a little slower than them since they are much faster than me. But I get caught up and run faster than I should, but it's not that bad. It does challenge me but I am not completely burned out at the end. Maybe I need to run some more on feel and not depend on my watch all the time. Time will tell ;)