It’s hard to make scientific progress when the variables are too variable.
I am trying to figure out the best way to improve my running. When I ran the first 30km since my injury, I went through Millcreek ravine and headed east, eventually turning around to return. That time I felt horrible by the end. No energy left. I was even walking flat parts. I figured that the reason it went so badly was that I started the run going too fast; I used my energy up too quickly and burned out. Sounds plausible.
On Thursday I did the same route. I kept slow, and I was able to keep running for the entire time. It was even a few degrees cooler. And at the end I felt powerful.
And apparently I was thirty seconds slower?
That’s disappointing.
Today, for the second consecutive Sunday, I ran 42.2km. (I you are running around that distance, you are going to end it at the perfect distance to say you’ve done a marathon.) The first Sunday felt horrible by the end. No energy left. I was even walking flat parts.
This time I started slower. The route was slightly different, but mostly the same. But I was able to keep running the entire time. And this time I brought enough water that I could keep hydrated the entire time without mugging people in their garage. It was even eight degrees cooler. With all these factors, I should be a lot faster. But in the end I was only seven minutes faster.
That’s disappointing. Still, progress.
I’m going to try and focus on the fact that I was feeling fairly good by the end. I could have probably kept running if I had wanted to. But I had gotten my route to end nearly in front of a Subway restaurant and I needed calories. Stat!
I’m thinking of giving myself a challenge. One of those things that prove nothing, but can become a personal accomplishment. The conditions are fairly good that I could try and run further this week than I drive, or am driven. I’ve run 42.2km. The only driving I’ve done today is about 6km to pick up a large pizza that I just inhaled. I don’t foresee much more driving at all this week. Nothing I need to get to except to help a friend move. If I pile on the running, I should be safe even from unanticipated automotive use.
It’s too bad stair training causes so much exhaustion for such a short run.
When I do run, I seem to be trying to make my routes go over trails I know about but aren’t on OpenStreetMap. That way I can add them in when I plug my GPS in. Today’s route followed that pattern. However, my GPS seems flaky lately. It keeps track of distance travelled and speed, but every so often it decides it doesn’t want to keep track of the exact route. So nothing I can use to add to OSM. Especially annoying today when I purposely went down into a rather daunting ravine/cliff near Cameron Heights. I suppose it might not be a trail that can really be navigated safely, but it is still a trail. And once you are in the ravine, there is a realistic trail that should be included.