I went for a run this evening without my trusty Garmin. It was such a relief not to check my pace constantly.
My iPod timer was set for 30 minutes. When the ducks quacked at me, I turned around and headed back to my car. The only goal I had was to get back to my car in less than 30 minutes. That would count as negative splits, right? I didn't quite make my goal but I was only off by about 30 seconds.
When I got home, I did map my run but it was an estimate at best since my turnaround point was in the middle of the trail rather than at a landmark that was clearly visible via skylight. I think I did about 4.9 miles, which means that, even without my watch, I came incredibly close to hitting my training pace. Of course, I don't know my splits, which is intensely liberating.
There were a lot of people biking the trail and a bunch of teenage boys who appeared to be training for cross country. It probably didn't boost his ego but it was sort of fun to pass one of the young'uns.
Since I haven't followed my training plan well, I'm getting a little worried about my upcoming race. Unless something crazy happens, I am quite sure I will be able to finish in the allotted time. And I know that I'm not supposed to have a time goal for a race distance I've never run before but I'd really like to not finish just under the wire.
I guess we'll see what happens...
2 comments:
Is there a cut-off time for your race? If you're not walking the entire thing, I'm sure you'll finish with plenty of time to spare!
Sometimes deviation is totally necessary. Listen to your body.
I need to run watchless more often!
It's 18.12 miles and the cutoff is 4 hours. My most recent long run - 15.75 miles - was just under 3.5 hours. The race course is a lot flatter and cooler than where I've been training and race pace should be about 2 minutes faster than training pace. It just feels like my running has sucked lately and I'm worried that will translate to the race. I'm pretty confident I'll finish, just not so confident I will be happy with how...
It was definitely a good idea to run without my watch, though. I'd let it becomes sort of a tyrant since I got it in February.
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