Today is our last full day at the beach. I started the day with a 4 mile run with the two middle miles at marathon pace (MP). As I mentioned last week I have decided that I should be able to finish around 4:30 and therefore my marathon pace is 10:17/mile. I was really bad about “stalking” my Garmin last week. Holly gave me some great advice about not looking at my watch so much. She had some great suggestions about changing the settings of my watch, but I can’t do that until we get home so that I can look at the user’s manual (all I really know how to do is push start and stop and look up an old workout). In the meantime, I took her first piece of advice to heart: to just “check in” with my pace but to only make slight adjustments and aim for an overall average in my head. I took that to mean I could check my watch every 0.5 miles during my two MP miles so that’s what I did. And I learned I need some more practice at pacing.
I decided to run the first half of my run around the campground and the second half on the beach. I started out with an easy mile to warm up and then attempted to settle in at MP. The first half mile went well and I clocked in at 5:09, exactly where I should be. I’m not sure what happened after that, but my first mile at MP ended up being 9:53. Oops.
 |
| Campground lake, ocean is on the other side of the sea of campers |
I headed out onto the beach for the second half of my run and continued with my checking in every half mile. The only problem was my watch shows total elapsed time, instead of lap time. So half a mile in to my second MP pace mile, I had no clue what the total time should be (basic math eludes me). My pace was just above 10 minutes/mile, though, so I figured I was doing alright.
I ended up running the second MP mile in 10:10. Better than the first, but still a little faster than I intended. That’s not really a problem, but I think I run a bit faster because I’m afraid of being slower than the pace I’m supposed to hit.
I also attempted selfie #2 today. This is a big deal because I took it while running on the beach, which means there were plenty of other people around. It still embarrasses me to take a picture of the scenery in front of other people, so you can imagine how high the embarrassment level is for me to take a picture of myself. Let’s not even imagine what it would be like for me to ask a stranger to take one of Barry and me.
I look like I am about to fall asleep and I also need to work on my smiling. That is what my smile looks like when I’m uncomfortable because people around me are looking at me. But at least I got my head and the ocean in the picture. That was the goal. And the best part about finishing up a run on the beach?
Taking off your shoes and socks and standing in the ocean! It was icy cold this morning but that felt so good after a humid (but not too hot) run.
Are you good at locking in to a set pace?
Do you enjoy soaking your feet in the water (if there’s water around) after a run?
Have you ever run barefoot on the beach?
Turkey Runner 
Don’t be so hard on yourself! That’s a great selfie! I love running on the beach, especially when I can ditch my shoes at the end and feel the sand between my toes.
I didn’t actually run barefoot, as I was getting over some heel pain, but it felt great to soak my feet afterwards!
You are two-for-two on the selfies! That’s another good one! :-)You make me think of Bill in your post-run picture. He loves wrapping up his beach run with a walk in the ocean.I used (emphasis on used) to be surprisingly good at setting a pace that was right on the money. At the track, I’d tell my runners that we were going to run a 3:30 800 or a 7:30 mile and lead them out, and we’d always finish right at that time. I have no idea how I did it, and my runners were always asking me how I did it. Now? HaHa, I’ve totally lost it… I think with a little experience you’ll be able to settle in on that 10:17 pace and know when you’re pretty close to it. Running on the sand probably threw you off a bit, too.
I wonder when my selfie luck will run out?
Your selfie is great!! I think you are good at getting yourself + a good background in the picture. The sand and cool water sounds amazing after a run. Lucky you! As for pace, I am horrible at knowing my own speeds.
Thanks! I think it’s still a bit of beginner’s luck.
Those are 2 great selfies – especially since you took them “on the run”! I have tried to do this on the treadmill, and it is disastrous. Disastrously BLURRY.Good job on practicing your pacing! Honestly, it will take some time to “lock into” the right pace – especially when weather and terrain vary ( 10 min/mi on a hot, hilly day is nothing like 10 min/mi on a cool, flat day). But you’ll get there. And thankfully, going a bit fast when you have just 2 MP miles won’t burn you out, so you’re fine. You have some room to experiment. I’d also say that you can “check in” more often, if you want – I think I probably look about once every quarter mile or so – but don’t jump to a fast pace change – just slow down or speed up a SMIDGE with each check, then give it a few minutes to settle in.What kind of Garmin do you have? If it’s a square one (205, 305, 405), then just hitting the up/down buttons while it’s recording will change the display. [Honestly, I owned the darned thing for years before realizing this!] Regardless, a little bit of fussing with the lap and display settings will help you get the timing a bit better. You won’t always have to do the math in your head! =)
If I ran as fast as you my selfie would probably be blurry too :)I use a Garmin 405, with the touch bezel thing. I am going to play around with it some tomorrow thanks to your suggestions!
So nice, if I am not wrong there will be big marathon in Istanbul in october. And thousand people join it.
Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve ran on the beach. My family is going to Mexico in January and I’m really looking forward to some wonderful sunrise runs on the beach =). I used to be horrible at pacing, but the more I did my tempo runs, the better I got at feeling the pace. Now, I’m pretty good at guessing my pace as long as I’m on streets instead of trails. My perceived effort is all over the place on trails. I used to have the 405…you should be able to create a workout online on Garmin Connect…just make it based on pace and give yourself a +/- 10 seconds to your goal pace and then your watch will beep when you go outside of those limits.
That’s so exciting! My family went to Mexico for my cousin’s wedding my freshman year of college and I had blast. I didn’t get to run, though. I wasn’t allowed to run by myself and no one would go with me. Boo. I will look into setting up a workout on my watch. Thanks for that suggestion!