It was a beautiful morning for a run, if a bit windy and I somehow ended up right at the front of the group when we got to the start point, so I just started running. I knew fairly early that I was running too quickly, but I kept concentrating on my breathing and it seemed to me that I was doing okay.
Finally, some people passed me (I prefer trailing as then I can get a better sense on how fast I'm actually running), and I slowed down a bit more but continued to run alone.
Bing caught up to me and we began to chat. He kept looking at his pace watch (he's putting us into pace groups next week). I told him how I had finally figured out a pace on the treadmill and he cautioned me about going too fast during our easy runs. He reminded me of our first clinic topic about stress and injury and slow/fast twitch muscles. He also kinda scared me, hinting that if I keep running easy runs too quickly, I may have nothing left in the tank in 89 days. Finally, he drove his point home with the following:
You're currently running a 6:45 (min/k). This means your tempo pace is 5:15 (min/k) and I know you don't have that in you.
Um, no! I could likely run ONE kilometre at 5:15 with Bing running beside me pacing me, but an entire tempo run? HAHAHA!
Anyway, in light of the fact that I don't have a pace watch or a garmin and I don't plan the routes, I guess the only thing to do during group runs is to just run slower. The runs are feeling easier, but I think I'll take the advice of the leader.
Anyway, yesterday I did 7k in 45:10 for 6:27 ave/km. I'm averaging a 6:55 pace on my runs, so I know that Bing was right. Tuesday, I will go out with some ladies who I was finishing with in the early runs and having them near me will keep me on track. I'm sure they'll be in my pace group anyway.
I'm still loving the training!
Glad you are enjoying the training and getting some good advice in the process!
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