Data-less

Something is wrong with my Garmin.

It’s been acting kinda wacky all week — beeping at odd times, refusing to power on or getting stuck on certain screens. This morning, it started randomly beeping again, waking me up 30 minutes before my alarm. After some careful consultation of various running forums on the internet, I decided to do a complete “hard” reset of my watch, returning it to factory settings. Hopefully that will clear up whatever funkiness has been going on with it recently.

Anyway, that meant that this morning I did my long run without a watch for the first time in a very long time. No times, no beeping at every, no data to analyze (and agonize over!) when I get home. And you know what? It was pretty nice! I’m home in Brooklyn for the weekend, so I decided to just do three loops of Prospect Park, since I knew that would add up to my scheduled 11 miles.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning for running — clear, blue skies, 65 degrees with a light breeze — and since I wasn’t keeping track of or thinking about my pace, I decided to focus on form instead. I reminded myself to keep my back straight and my head up, and I tried to imagine myself as light and springy instead of sore and galumphing, which is how I normally feel at the end of a long run. I didn’t do the 2-3 miles at Half Marathon Pace fast finish I had planned, since I was trying to embrace the “no numbers” mentality of the run. But I do feel like I was able to pick up the pace towards the end, and I definitely felt lighter and springy-er than I’ve felt for most of this training cycle.

—

Going back a few days, I WAS able to use my garmin for a tempo run with my good friend K-, who is turning out to be my favorite new workout buddy for speedwork. He’s very encouraging (also much faster than me) and I want to impress him, so running with him is a good motivator not to slack off or give in to negative thoughts.

On Thursday we did 6.5 miles, three of which were at tempo (8:15 min/mile) pace.

The tempo beast is vanquished once again! I felt kind of woozy/light headed after this run (it’s been super hot and humid in DC lately, so I’m thinking I was dehydrated), but it was also SO satisfying to have done it. The best thing about running in the early mornings before work is that you go about the rest of your day with a feeling of accomplishment. I LOVE getting home from my run and seeing that my roommates are just waking up, still bleary eyed and wearing pajamas, while I’m decked out in sweat and jazzed on endorphins.

THE WEEK
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 4 miles easy in the morning, 30 min lap swim in the evening
Wednesday: 30 min arms/abs (I did three sets of this core routine, plus some chair dips)
Thursday: 6.5 mile tempo run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 11 mile long run, focus on form
Sunday: (planned) 3.5 miles easy

TOTAL: 25 miles