OMG, I ran 10 miles!

So, I ran 10 miles on Sunday. I don't know what possessed me to do this. I think I just wanted to see if I could do it. I was only supposed to run 8. Another reason I did it is because I skipped my easy 2 miler on Saturday and felt guilty, so I figured I would add the 2 into my long run. I still cannot believe that I did it. I mean, that's double digits! When you say, "I ran 10 miles", you realize that 10 miles is pretty darn far! I never in a million years would ever have thought that I would be capable of doing something like that. I was always overweight in elementary school and junior high. Some of you know what it's like to be overweight growing up. I had a lot of friends, but there were always people that would make fun. I lost some weight in high school playing softball, but I have never been skinny. I've always stayed around 150-155 pounds since high school. It's just really satisfying to look back on that and see where I am today. I love running. It has given me so much confidence. I have never done anything that makes me feel the way running does.

I also approached this run differently in regards to how fast I ran it. I've been reading a lot about training programs and what the different types of runs you incorporate into your training plan do for your running, like the long run, easy run, tempo run, speed run, etc. There are target heart rate zones you should be running these in. For example, the long slow run should be run at a HR of about 65-75% of your max HR. For information on how to calculate your max HR with the new formula, see this article from Runner's World, or you can do it the old way by taking 220-age (Obviously this is only an estimate). The RW article talks about using a HR monitor and the benefits of knowing your HR. Another really great source of information about HR training is McMillian's Running. My max HR is 192, so on my long run I should be keeping my HR between 124-144. For me, this creates a problem because on all of my long runs my average HR is always around 165. There are two reasons for this: 1. I haven't been training long enough and am in not good enough cardiovascular condition to have a HR this low while running and 2. I'm running my long runs too fast. I'm always telling myself I'm too slow, so I try to run faster, but I may be doing myself harm, not good. I have read that training at a HR of 65-75% of your max HR will improve your running, and your HR will start to come down with continued training. I think that I have started off too fast for my own good. So, to make a long story short, I started this run will the intent to keep my HR around 135, but it resulted in a pace of around 13:30 min/mile. Now that is just ridiculous! I couldn't run that slow, it would kill me! So, I settled for keeping my HR around 153, which is about 80% of my max HR. That way, I kept a pace of 12:00 min/mile and didn't feel like I was as slow as a turtle. I think I'm going to start either taking a long walk once a week or use the elliptical, keeping my HR around 136 and see if that helps.

I know I would not have been able to run 10 miles Sunday had it not been for me slowing my pace down and watching my HR. Sometimes running isn't about running fast, but about running smart! I am going to start paying more attention to my HR during my runs and hopefully my running will improve as a result.

Monday was a rest day, so I did 40 minutes on the Wii Active and 35 minutes of my new Billy Blanks Ab Bootcamp DVD. Billy Blanks kicked my butt!!

Running stats courtesy of Garmin Connect:
Total miles: 10
Ave pace: 12:17 min/mile
Time: 2:02:52
Ave HR: 154
Calories burned: 1,083!! wow!!

Next run: Tuesday, easy 5 mile run
Total miles this week: 10