A Change of Pace

I've come to the conclusion that it's time to work on getting better, not just trying to be faster. This not only applies to running, but to my life in general. I'm always rushing around trying to get as much done as fast as possible so I can move on to the next thing. I thought I was living life to the fullest. The truth is, I'm so caught up in what's next, that I'm never living in the moment. I'm always impatient and feeling rushed and this is not a fun way to live. Even running, which I really do love and enjoy has started to not feel as fun anymore.

As far as changing the way I run, I've been looking at Heart Rate (HR) based training such as Maximum Aerobic Function or MAF for a while now. I trained for Boston using a plan from the book Advanced Marathoning which had me running by HR rather than just running certain paces. I did a lot of slower running but was able to run more miles per week than I ever had before with no injuries and not feeling tired all the time. While Boston didn't go as well as I had hoped, I believe the way I trained gave me the potential to do great had the conditions been better. I want to continue to build on that training and see where it takes me.

Since I don't really have any more races planned for this year, I've decided I'm going to spend the rest of 2016 focusing on building a strong aerobic base. This means slowing way down!

This will not be easy for me, it means I need to swallow my pride and trust the process. When I started running in 2010 my paces were between 9:30 - 10:00 minutes per mile. In 2014 I ran the Twin Cities Marathon at a 7:53 pace. Today I did my first run keeping my HR in the aerobic zone (under 144 beats per minute for me) at an average pace of 10:56 minutes per mile! 7 miles which would normally take me less than an hour, at what I would have considered a easy to moderate effort, took me an hour and 16 minutes today. Talk about a hard pill to swallow! But as hard as it was to go slow, I felt great the entire time and felt like I could have kept running all day.

I may occasionally run a little faster, but for the next 6 months I'm going to focus on doing 80% of my running in this aerobic zone and see what happens. I am not a patient person and this will be a huge test for me. I'm excited for a new challenge, especially if it has the potential to improve not only my running, but also other aspects of my life. By slowing down I will not only become a stronger and faster runner, but also a more balanced and patient person. While I want to run fast, I don't want my life to keep passing by at such a hectic pace. I'm hoping this plan will help me slow down and learn to live in the moment.