6.5 Miles Non Stop in 1:18

I set out to run 10K without walking this morning (another item in my 101 things list), and I ran 6.5 non-stop miles in 1:18 @ a 12:02 min/mile pace! The most I've ever run without a walk break before was 5 miles.  I am in awe because I figured that at best I would average 13. When I finished the first mile in 12:36, I feared I had started out too fast, but the pace felt comfortable. I tried to slow down, but that's the pace my body wanted to run; anything slower actually felt a little awkward. I was sure I'd lose steam towards the end, so imagine my surprise when I kept seeing my average pace go down!

Splits:

• mile 1 = 12:36
• mile 2 = 12:15
• mile 3 = 12:16
• mile 4 = 12:17
• mile 5 = 12:06
• mile 6 = 11:30
• mile 6.5 = 5:15 (10:26)

And to think that this run almost did not happen. I was having tummy issues so I was going to postpone until tomorrow. But Jason urged me on, so I took a pepto and gave it a try staying close to home for the first few miles just in case. I felt great, and the weather was perfect, so I kept going. I wore my fuel belt to sip on water throughout and took a gel at mile 3.  I was feeling really good towards the end and speeding up, so I instead of 10K I kept going for an even 6.5 miles. I probably could have ran 7 miles, but I didn't want to push it since I felt twinges here and there.

After the run, I ate some breakfast and ran some errands, then I went to my 2nd swim lesson at the Y. I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of bilateral breathing, and began learning the proper way to do the breast stroke. You can read more details about the swim at dailymile.

I'm a One Hour Runner!

I am in awe of myself. I created a list of 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. One of the items on that list is to Run for 1 hour without walking. I was going to start tackling the list at the beginning of the year, but I had the urge to run this morning and I did it!

I ran 4.5 miles in 1 hour @ 13:15 min/mile average pace without any walk breaks! I walked for 3 minutes at the 1 hour mark, and then I ran another 2.5 miles in 33 minutes @ 13:12 min/mile average pace without any walking!

That's a total of 7 miles of pure running bliss at an average pace under 13:30 min/mile, and I felt great! My knees were a little achy, but they are totally pain free now. The most I've ever run without walking was about 42 minutes and maybe 3 - 3.5 miles, so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I also did not think I'd be able to run it this fast (I know this is slow, but it is fast for me without walk breaks).

When I set out to run this morning, I just wanted to get in a few extra miles to make up for missed runs this week and cutting yesterday's run short. I figured running 1 hour straight without walking was a bit ambitious since I had already run 8 miles yesterday, but I was feeling good. I told myself I'd shoot for 45 or 50 minutes instead, but by then what's another 10-15 minutes? :) I started nice and slow, just under 14 min/mi, and tried to pick up the pace after 30 minutes to average at least 13:45 min/mi. Before I knew it, I was close to 13:30, so I had to try to reach that and I smashed it! I am amazed I had that much energy to push that hard at the end.

I probably could have kept running for more than 1 hour without walking, but I didn't want to press my luck. I still wanted to get in 7 miles, so I started running nice and easy for another 30 minutes after the 3MR. This was a much shorter run, and I was full of energy, so I was able to pick up the pace a tad more sooner. I'm sure I experienced the runner's high today, because I could have run forever. If my knees hadn't protested, I probably would have kept going :)

Now I'm rethinking some of the items on my list and may still tweak it a bit, but it's pretty close to final. So, what's on your 101 Things in 1001 Days list? :)

PS - I am a slacker and still need to post my race report for the OUC Half Marathon last Saturday 12/5 and yesterday's Reindeer Run 5K. In the meantime, you can read my mini reports on dailymile by clicking on the links in the previous sentence.

Non-stop 5k in 34:29!

I ran a sub-35 5k with no breaks: 3.11 miles in 34:29 at 11:05 average pace! I'm so excited! To be honest, I don't think I've ever run a truly non-stop 5K race before, because I always took at least 1 short break at water stops. I did run the distance non-stop when I finished C25K, but it took me over 40 minutes. The weather cooperated so I was able to run outside at Lake Eola. It was actually cool when I started, though the humidity was evident by the end of the run.

I ran against my Garmin's virtual partner (GVP), which I set to run 5K in 35 minutes. As you can see from the mostly negative splits below, I started slow (though slightly faster than Monday) and held back letting the GVP get ahead of me for the first 2 miles. I steadily increased my speed throughout the run and started to gain on the GVP after mile 2. With .6 to go, I passed the GVP and beat it by 30 seconds.

Splits (pace)

11:49
11:07
10:26
12:00 (.12 in 1:29) -- not sure how that happen as I felt I was still going strong.

I was afraid that some of the soreness from yesterday's hard indoor bike ride would be a problem, but I didn't feel sore once I started running -- I do use different muscles when running vs biking. My right knee felt a little tight when I finished, but I did a few yoga movies and it seems to be fine now. Just to be safe, I'll do Yoga for the Knees tonight or tomorrow morning.

This time is a little over 1 minute slower than my 5K PR of 33:12, which I ran using 5:1 intervals. However, I am confident that with a little practice I can get a new 5K PR with no walk breaks.

30 Minutes of Non-Stop Running

Even though I am a huge advocate of the Galloway run-walk method, I still want to be able to run shorter distances of at least 3 miles without walking. I even walk during 5K races because I can run much faster when I take walk breaks, and I'm forever in search of a new PR =).

Since I don't want my body to forget what it feels like to run without walking, and because I want to increase how far and fast I can run without walking, I started adding a 30-minute non-stop run to my weekly routine 3 weeks ago. I am starting slow since I am technically building back up from an injury, but I'm already seeing improvements in just those 3 runs.

Below is a comparison of each 30 minute run. Click on the linked date to read the details of each run at my dailymile log.

date	distance	avg pace	mile 1 pace	mile 2 pace	finish pace
3/24	2.37	12:39	12:56	12:20	11:55
4/1	2.55	11:47	12:12	11:58	10:33
4/6	2.65	11:21	12:01	11:26	10:12