6K Run

I really wasn't planning on running today. I've only been trying to get 2-3 runs in a week and I already did 2 of them so I was going to save the last one for Friday or Saturday. However, my mom was going out to run and asked me to join so I did. The thing is I'm on Week 3 of my 10K training plan and my goal is to get at least the long run in. This week's long run was 6K/3.72miles. Depending on your level of running, this may seem like a stroll to you. Here's the thing though, the longest run I've done in the past 4 months is only 2.6ish miles and I've only done it a few times. Anyway, I really wasn't in the mood to get this long run out of the way but knew if chose to do one of the shorter ones, I'd just be throwing myself off for the week.

Week 3 of 10K Training Plan: If I didn't do the long run, I would've ended up doing distances I've already covered this week.

It started out pretty solid. It's only 70-75 out which is fantastic given it is summer and Texas. This was considered a "recovery run" so my goal was to just finish the run. I try my best to not look at my watch during the runs too so that I run just based on how I feel. For recovery, you're supposed to be running at a 5/10 effort.

I felt like I was running super slow, but my body and breathing felt fine, and the weather was nice. However, pretty quickly I regretted my choice in outfit. All my biker shorts were dirty so I wore leggings which I thought would be nice because they have pockets (and I usually have to carry my phone) but turns out running in pants is not ideal in the summer. I enjoyed the guided run with Coach Bennett. He mostly talked about being prideful and taking pride in your accomplishments which was a nice lil pep talk. He came back at every 1K and mile marker. After the first mile, I thought I was warming up, but I crashed (mentally) pretty quick. I was having to pay a ton of attention to my breathing, which for me signals that I'm clearly not doing too well.

I ran on a pretty street where I tried to distract myself with the trees but it was pretty hilly (for Texas) so that was not helping. I did an out and back, which is sometimes the best and sometimes not. On one side, with a distance run it is nice to know that you're running back and, in my case, to my home. That means I know I can get water asap and don't have to worry about walking far to get back. On the flipside, when I'm struggling on the out, it's not that reassuring to know that I need to cover the same distance back. I know 3K doesn't seem like a lot but for my current running endurance, it is. I was huffing and puffing the whole way back. I did finish almost right in front of my house which was lovely, but I was absolutely drenched in sweat and could not catch my breath. So, technically I didn't do this run right.

Despite feeling like I was running slow, I was running faster than I was supposed and faster than I usually do. I'd say one of my better running traits is that usually I'm good at running negative splits, even with longer distances. So, I'll start out maybe with a 10:30 pace and end at a 9-9:30 depending on the run. One of my worse traits is that I don't do recovery runs AS well as I'm supposed to. If you're trying to run a half marathon at 9:30ish pace, your recovery and long-runs should be at a 10:30-11:30 (according to NTC). I'll include a screenshot of my paces here but what you'll see is I did get faster each mile, which is good because it shows that I'm warming up in the beginning. Bad news is that this wasn't an easy effort, so I clearly pushed too hard.

Overall, glad I got it done. Given that my previous runs were about 2.5miles, it's nice to now feel good about doing 3-3.5mi runs in the upcoming weeks.

Pros: Started slow, ended faster. Cons: that HEART RATE. Clearly not a 5/10 effort

Only big bummer is that I wasn't planning on running this early (noon). I needed to go to the gym today and I am MUCH better at going to the gym THEN running rather than running then going to the gym. I washed up and now am so comfy that I fear I will not be making it to the gym.