A Ho-Hum Run

Temperature: 68 degrees; Splits 9:18; 9:13; 9:27; 10:11; 9:41; 6:51 54:43 total for 5.72 miles; 9:34 per mile pace.

Week 3 of my marathon training continued with a scheduled 40-50 minute run at a pace of at least 1 minute per mile slower than my marathon goal pace of 8:40/mile run-walk-run; or simply put, I was scheduled to run between 40 and 50 minutes total at as close to a 9:40 per mile pace as I could. WHEW!
Before my run, I started by doing six Acceleration Gliders. Since I can't really do a good job explaining what they are, I'll cheat and copy and paste the info. below:

"Speed Training Without Aches and Pains: Acceleration Gliders"

"When done every three days or so, these little "pick-ups" will warm up your legs while they improve your running form. These are not sprints and are not hard to do. Your mission is to play with your momentum while running with less effort. The acceleration part is easy to do on a short stretch of downhill. Simply pick up the turnover of your feet (not your stride length) on the downhill, propelled by gravity, touching lightly with your feet. As you "coast² onto flat ground, maintain that increase without any significant effort. Then let the momentum gradually decrease back to your easy running pace for that day. Your goal is to glide very smoothly, even with a quicker turnover.

Acceleration Gliders in Six Easy Steps
1. Start your warm-up by walking for five minutes, then walking and jogging very slowly for 5-10 minutes and then easing into your running pace for that day. Warm down by reversing this procedure.
2. Go down! After you're warmed up, use a slight downhill segment of 20-40 running steps to get a little momentum. Be sure to keep the legs and body relaxed throughout, without increasing your stride length. As you reach the flat, coast along with the added momentum, touching the ground lightly and feet near the surface of the road or trail. If no downhill is available, pick up your leg rhythm by shortening your stride length and gradually increasing the turnover of your feet and legs for 20-30 steps. (Turnover is simply the number of steps you take per minute.)
3. After the first few steps of the acceleration, when you feel comfortable at the faster rhythm, let the stride lengthen just a bit if you wish, but don't let it get too long. Avoid any feeling of tension or over-stretching in the back of your legs.
4. You're now up to speed so just glide, keeping the feet low to the ground and using very little effort. At the first sign of this, reduce stride length, and touch lighter on your feet.
5. Continue gliding for between 10-30 steps.
6. Rest by jogging very slowly or walking between accelerations.

Your acceleration glider program

* Each of these offers you a chance to work on more efficient running form as described on pp. 114-115 in the Marathon You Can Do It (Shelter Publications, 2001).
* Warm up before each session with 10-20 minutes of walking and easy running (with walking breaks if you wish).
* Keep the legs relaxed throughout the warm-up, the gliders themselves and afterward. Ease into the gliders, using downhills as the accelerations. If you don't have a downhill available, accelerate by shortening the stride, picking up the turnover rate of the legs, and then relaxing as you glide.
* Start with three to five gliders and increase by one or two each session to a maximum of 10 or 12.
* Two of these sessions per week will help to reinforce form improvements mechanically.
* You can use these as a warm-up before hills, speed sessions or races. You may also do them during your recovery and maintenance runs each week."

Jeff Galloway

That being said, I followed them with a random run. A random run is my favorite. It's where I set out to run around town on roads I don't usually run on, and somehow end up back where I started within my allotted time. That's the nice thing about wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305. Well, I underestimated both the difficulty of the hills on part of the run, and also the distance left until I was back to the starting point. So overall I ran for about 10 more minutes then I had planned. The water fountain on the linear trail at exactly 4 miles cost me a minute plus of time, but it was worth it because I was "zoning" at that point. I usually dislike running for odd distances, (Just one of my many running quirks) but after 5.72 miles and 54:43 I arrived at my car and called it a day. Overall, I'm happy with the 9:34 per mile pace, and the entire run was as good as it gets. The steep uphills were challenging, but not really a problem. Even though I missed a week of running, I feel as if I'm quickly regaining my running mojo. I also dedicated mile 4-5 to Mel-2nd Chances, whose on a temporary break from running. Go check out her blog: http://mel-2ndchances.blogspot.com/. She's an inspiration to me and everyone who reads it.