A Nice Reality Check

Due to a confluence of factors, one of which was the high heat and humidity, I retreated to the treadmill to get my run in today--or, really, tonight. I've not run on the treadmill for several months, so tonight's run provided me a good opportunity to get a better sense of how fast I'm running under controlled conditions.

As has been usual for me lately, I ran six miles. I wanted to see how fast and how well I could run without walk breaks. I began running at a 12-minute-mile pace and, in three-minute increments, sped up to a 10-minute-mile pace.

I was pleased that I was able to sustain the 10-minute-mile pace for about 25 minutes.  At this speed, I'm able to run at the top of my aerobic zone, which corresponds to a heart rate of about 165 bpm. At three miles, I boosted the speed once again to a 9'40" /mile pace, which I maintained for a mile.  Yet this pace was a strain for me.  I began to feel that sickening feeling one gets when overexerting oneself, so, at the four-mile point, I walked for about two minutes before resuming at a 12-minute pace and, over the next two miles, stepping up to a 10-minute mile pace.

What did I learn? I think that the breaks probably could have helped me maintain the 9'40"/mile pace for a greater proportion of my run: in fact, I probably could maintain a faster pace with periodic walk breaks. I need to play with the math, but I think I can bring increase my overall speed with more walk breaks.

One other advantage of running on the treadmill is that it enables me to measure more accurately how I'm doing. I have gotten faster since the beginning of the year: probably about a minute/mile faster.  But I also know that I'll probably gain about another minute/mile when I drop all the weight I need to lose.  And here's hoping that the heat drops enough in the next few days to make running outside viable again.