Slow is the New Fast

The title of this post is stolen from the blog by the same name. Nikki is also a mid-30s runner (but with two kids!) who really embraces her middle-of-the-pack position. As someone else who embraces her middle of the pack position, I find a lot of inspiration and encouragement from runners who are ok with never running faster then 9 minute miles. It's similar to why I'm impressed with the super-fast race finishers, but I"m inspired by the 50, 65, 75 years olds who are still out and still running right there with me (heck, some even pass me!).

After a fantastic fall/winter of getting faster and stronger, my running has taken a turn for the slower. On the whole, my fast run paces have dropped from 8:50 min/mi to 9:21 min/mi, and my slow runs from 9:40 min/mi to 10:21 min/mi. None of my most recent runs have broken the 10 min/mi mark. It's warmer here, but not so much warmer that I should have slowed down by this month.  I'm not sure why the change (ok, I have some ideas but I'm not yet ready to share). So far the biggest changes I've noticed are:

-general feeling that Im more tired, that runs are harder, even at 10:21 min miles
-breathing feels harder, cramping comes on much more frequently

With where I am in my dissertation-related work I'm not in the mental space where I can push muchself. Running needs to be about de-stressing, relaxing, and getting off my butt. So here's my continued goals for keeping at it while also slowing down:

1. Stick to goal of 20 miles a week minimum, it's ok if a few of those are walks, but aim for 4-5 days of running.
2. Keep pace alerts turned off. Just get out and go based on what feels good for my body/mind. Putting in the miles is ultimately more important then doing them faster. Bonus: slower runs = longer exercise sessions.

This week I did a 7.4 mile run on Sunday, 4.5 mile walk on Monday, 50 min elliptical on Tuesday, and a 4.5 mile jog on Wednesday. So far I'm at 16 miles already. I plan to do 4.5-5 miles today and tomorrow and then have my 5 mi race on Saturday morning.