Today I ran 4 miles at conversation pace. This was workout number 6 of 61 in my sub 60 10k training program.
Officially, my first training run was workout number 4 – also a 4 mile run.
For the past couple of years, I’ve run 3 days most weeks. Sometimes more and rarely less. Prior to that, with a different life schedule and on flatter land, I ran 4 days. I’d been planning to modify my workout schedule to add a fourth day, so this was an upside to the program.
I gave myself credit for workouts 1 and 2, as my standard running schedule mirrored those pretty well. I “skipped” workout 3 as that was the day I discovered the plan and it was too late at night by then. So Sunday was my first opportunity to run, and it was the mileage I would’ve run anyway.
Tuesday I ran 3 miles plus strides. That’s 3 miles at conversation pace, ending with cycles of 20 second sprits and 2 minutes of recovery (repeated 3 times).
That brings us to today’s 4-miler.
This program requires quite a few runs at conversation pace, which is what it sounds like – the speed at which you can hold a conversation with another person.
The actual pace varies by your level of fitness, but the program defines it as 11:15-11:30/mile. When I’m really talking throughout my run, my conversation pace is a little slower. When I’m running solo and pretending to talk to someone, this range is pretty much my pace. But on a typical day, my 4 mile runs are faster overall. That’s what made today’s run somewhat difficult.
At the beginning, it took me a few minutes to speed up to that pace, but once I was warm, I wanted to go faster. It took some concentration Tuesday and today to maintain a slow enough pace. It’s an interesting challenge.
Blue ran elsewhere this morning, but he surprised me by showing up on my last half mile. He took a few pictures, and I noticed a few things about my form. Food for thought as I get faster.
Next run: Saturday, 2 miles slow.