My first tempo run…and guess who slept through it all!
Let me begin this post with some awesome news… I am officially a stress fracture rehab runner GRADUATE! On Saturday I ran for over 60 consecutive minutes and completed my 7 week rehab plan. I am still monitoring my training closely and not getting ahead of myself. Do I still ever feel pain? Rarely. I feel a little twinge in the stress fracture area when I turn a certain way and put pressure on it but I know it’s healing and I am SO thankful to be where I am today. I still have a long way fitness-wise to go but I will get there in time. Patience. That pretty much sums up everything for someone recovering from a stress fracture.
So this morning I was going to meet one of my friend’s to run 5 miles. She texted that she wouldn’t be able to make it but as you know, the show must go on. I decided this was the perfect time to try my first tempo run. My current tempo goal pace is 7 minutes. Eventually it will be in the 6:40’s but I am still getting back in shape. How do I determine my tempo pace? I use the McMillan pace calculator.
I decided for my initial pace run I would try to run 2 miles at this pace after a good warm-up and then I would have a mile cool down.
Mile 1- 8:50 (Warm-up)
Mile 2- 7:47 (Still warming up for the tempo but I wanted mile 2 to be sub 8.)
Mile 3- 6:58 (First mile of the tempo run. Felt good but it was harder than I thought it would be.)
Mile 4: 7:04 (Second and last mile of tempo run. I really wanted it to be sub 7 but I just couldn’t keep up the pace. My body couldn’t keep up.)
Mile 5: 7:48 (Cool-down)
Overall average: 7:41 pace. I feel very good about this workout. I would have loved to have met my goal of sub 7 for the whole tempo part but I was close. I will hit it next time. I have a long way to go but I know with consistent workouts I will get there.
When I got home- everyone was still asleep and in bed!! This never happens so I took full advantage by stretching and rolling. I need to do this more! The kids started to get up while I was icing my legs.
Tonight I plan on some swimming before Family Track Night. Good stuff!
One thought on “My first tempo run…and guess who slept through it all!”
Congrats!!!! I can only imagine how that must feel to share! Looking forward to posting something similar to this in the coming months myself! Thanks for sharing and giving us injured souls hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!