Slow Pace is Hard

Last week's 10 mile jaunt around to Del Sur had some good elevation challenges and I pushed a decent pace.  I recovered well and felt I could begin building mileage again.

Today, I ran 10 miles again, but purposefully tried to maintain a slow training pace and a flat course.  I feel it much more now than I did in the aftermath of last week's effort?  Why?

One notable thing: I felt my right calf cramp a little around mile 6.  I was able to run through it and finished the run fine.  A little while later, though, after sitting down for a bit and then standing up, I found my calves were all knotted and tight.  That almost never happens.  I usually feel the fatigue and stress more in the quads.  For some reason, the calves took the run hard, even though I didn't think I ran hard at all.

I chose Miramar for the quarter-mile markers and wanted to train to run a 9:00 pace, or 2:15 per 440.  That's tough to do while still trying to maintain form.  It seems my natural gait keeps me around 8:40-8:45 when I feel I'm going slowly.  That seems to be my base.

I kept track of my heart rate.  The first 5-mile lap, at 8:40 pace, saw my HR hang pretty steady around 135 or so, but then start to drift up to 140 near the split.  I'd been running for 40+ minutes and needed water, but didn't feel exhausted at all; but I couldn't get my heartrate to slow below 140 without walking.

The 2nd lap was more difficult, even though I maintained the same pace.  I downed about 20 oz water at the turn, which I figure might have been a little short, but I didn't want to be sloshing.  I averaged 145bpm on the 2nd lap with peak drifting to 150 toward the end.  Again, my pace didn't change...maybe got a second or two slower per quarter than during the 1st half.

I wonder if running at that slow pace isn't harder than running with a little more tempo?  I know that the theory behind these long slow runs includes training the body to make fat a greater percentage of the caloric consumption.  At higher anaerobic thresholds, I rely more on glycogen burning, and I think I do alright with that already.  But those "fat burning" workouts are hard when they get extended, and may be indicative of why I struggled in the marathon after 3 hours of not "fat burning" enough. 

Well, it's time to start inching back into the 30-miles/week range and think about pacing myself to peak for the AFC.  (Joan's going to participate in the 5K.)  Boot camp is over for the time being, so this week begins a pickup in swimming and strength training.  I'm ready for a change up in the routine.