Week 7 - 11.1 Miles

I had a very good run this morning.  I had restarted cross training this past week since I was able to breathe again and that went well so I had plenty of motivation coming into the weekend.  I had been sick the last two weeks with a cold and have tried very hard to not let that get me down.  Everyone gets sick and it always seems to be at the worst time.

It was cool but not cold this morning so I didn't get decked out in all of my colder winter running gear.  I ate a granola bar before leaving the house and that always seems to give me that extra little kick I need to have a solid run.  After seeing the benefits of fueling before a training run or a race, I just need to get used to forcing my body to eat a little something even though I am generally not hungry at that time.

I did have any issues with heaves while running but I did get a huge cramp in my side near 9 mile marker, which was right before a water stop thankfully.  I drank some water and it seemed to help.  I felt pretty good throughout the run.  My average pace was somewhere around 9:30/mi, which is what my comfortable running pace is right now.

I'm running the Fort Worth Cowtown Half Marathon next weekend and with today's run I feel like I could easily set a new PR.  If I run a 9:30 average pace I could finish the race around 2:04, which is well under my goal of finishing my next half marathon under 2:10.

I'm still learning my way around my Garmin FR 620.  At the 6.5 mile marker I reset my watch and so I have two different entries saved.  Oh well.  While I was stopped I wanted to scroll through my stats to see how I was doing but instead saved my run.  Next time I'll try pressing the three horizontal lines on the watch face and see what that does.  I'm working on a blog entry for my new watch and plan to post my review by the end of the month.

11.1 miles Pt. 1
11.1 miles Pt. 2

I have a little more below on running form if you want to read my thoughts on that.  It's by no means the absolute right way to run but it might help you in case you don't have the best form.

Running Form

I was running with one of the trainers and another runner and we were talking about form and how it helps/hurts you.  It then dawned on me that those four years of marching band in high school have been a good thing in that I seem to have pretty good form.

You want to try to keep your arms tucked in; I have my arms form a "V".  I try to be conscientious of this particular thing but try to keep a loose grip with your hands.  I have a tendency to sometimes run with a tight grip and I end up paying for it later in a long run where my arms start to really hurt because that tight grip with your hands makes your entire body tense up.

When it comes to my feet I run either heal-to-toe roll or flat-footed to toe roll.  I'd have to do a little research to see which my actually be the best -- heal-to-toe roll and flat-footed-to-toe roll.  If you drag your feet, you actually have to expend more energy to keep your momentum that is lost.  Dragging your feet also causes your shoes to wear out their tread faster, so that might be two reasons to not drag your feet!  I don't do this but have seen other run this way where they swing their feet out to the sides -- I believe this is called pigeon-toe running.  This also looks highly inefficient to me as it's extra muscle movements you have to make meaning it extra energy from your "gas tank" that is expended.