Best fiver yet! And the reward? A half sub.
Miles run: 5.02
Time: 43:21
Pace: 8:38
Temp: 31°
HR: 169/179
Perceived effort: 7 (although HR would suggest it was more difficult)
On the iPod: a Podrunner mix at 173 bpm
Woo Hoo! Best run yet. Just in time before the big storm tomorrow and before at least a day or two off.
Grabbed a Roma’s sub to go (mmm… Roma’s…) and headed home right after work. Got out on the road at 6pm and tore around my loop. And when I say tore, I mean ran at a pace that still embarrasses me when I think about what I ran in high school and college. My distance PR of 12 miles way back then (oooh so looong ago) was done in at a 7:00 minute pace.
Seven! I can’t even imagine that now! So far my Nike+ iPod tells me that my fastest single mile was done in 7:46. I’m pretty happy about that, but it’s still a long way from 7:00. For comparison’s sake, if I wanted to run the Boston Marathon, I would have to qualify at another marathon with a pace of 7:26 (for my age group). Needless, to say, the BM will not be on my calendar this year (or even the next couple years). I’m not built for speed, so I’ll be sticking to the ultra endurance stuff. The Vermont 50 looks more plausible to me as a future event than the Boston Marathon.
That HR average of 169 is welcome. Not that I want it regularly there, but it felt good to push myself more than usual. I think the 173 bpm electronica mix also helped.
Did I mention I had a Roma’s sub? AFTER the run. Sorta like a reward. A likely contributor to my good time. So I enjoyed a stomach-pain free run for once. It’s not so much a stomach-PAIN, as a stomach-discomfort. Like how your stomach might feel after having three Cokes, a packet of salted peanuts and some beef jerky you found forgotten in your coat pocket while crammed into a crappy airplane seat with Colonel Sanders on your left and Mrs. Butterworth’s on your right.
I only ate half the sub, my shrinking stomach can no longer comfortably hold the entire beastie. And I’m finding that even though I’m not eating ’til I’m full, a short while after the meal I feel mostly satisfied. Mostly. I could still pound a couple white chunk macadamia nut cookies, or a nice triangle of baklava, or some cake, or… stop it!
The feedback from my digital scale is quite surprising. The variation in weight throughout the day is remarkable in its magnitude. You really DO have to weigh yourself at the same time each day if you want useful information for comparison. In fact, the difference in weight before and after I take a leak (ah, excuse me)– .4 lbs. Whoa. A tad more than I expected. I won’t say where I started weight-wise or where I’m looking to go–that’s not really the point here.
Do you find it as difficult as I do to choose smaller portion sizes in our Super-Size Society? Do you feel self-conscious eating noticeably less than your fellow diners? Do you fraternize with food-pushers? It’s hard to say no and not feel like you’re insulting them. Those days end up being the exception days.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:47 am
Food pushers..haha good word for them! Well its no surprise you losing weight and your stomach is shrinking..look at all the running you do! The way I look at it…I feel good if I eat much less than my fellow diners…I too have been attempting to loose a couple extra lbs..(although I think my little vaca has packed some of thos lbs back on) it’s a good feeling…not the gaining obviously but the losing and eating much less. I hardly ever finish a complete meal anymore….so that is a good thing!
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 am
You are to be admired, all the running and the cutting down on your food portions.
I have an idea that you can hit your 7 minute mark, ready? Get your Roma sub ( whatever that is) smell it, be really really hungry, then have your wife tack that sub to the “finish line” of your run. Now that will get the ol feet booking 90 miles per hour and voila, you made your record you wanted to make, plus you still have your sub at the end of your run!!!!!
Super size, heck no, when I take mama to her favorite McDonald’s, we get the kids meals. My problem is I am over run with all those lil toys they had you!!!! YIKES what do I do with them all!!!!
My granddaughter so loves looking in my car to see what new McD’s toys we have in there, but heck two of everything does add up. Anyone want some toys???
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:59 am
I’m never the one to be eating less than my fellow diners, lmao! I always end up with more!
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Wow - great run! I thought I’d shed a few easy pounds running regularly, but so far, no luck. I don’t really have to give up that yogurt with the cream on top, do I? I’m the worst kind of food pusher - I like to order a little bit of everything to try, but then I leave the rest of the group to finish it all off!
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I tend to eat less than fellow diners because I don’t want them to be all “Wow…no wonder her skiivies catch on fire when she walks. Look at the amount of food she shovels in”. When it’s just me…..I pack it in pretty good :)
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I always eat less than those around me and I don’t find it a problem unless someone is a food pusher. I get annoyed when people try to cram more food into me. My MO is to get an appetizer somewhere, fill up with salad and bread and then not really have room for the meal. I LOVE appetizers. yum