Re-defining hard

Well it's been a busy past few weeks, including lots of work/overtime, and of course lots of running!  I've continued my routine of fitting in one hot yoga workout (90min) and one 60 min strength/power workout every week, for the past 6 weeks or so.  These sessions have really been aiding to build the strength in my hips and core muscles, and allowing my joints to absorb the miles without breaking down and becoming sore on longer runs.  I wish I had known just how beneficial it is a few years ago when I never used to do any strength training at all!

Lately I've been thinking about my perceived running pace vs. actual pace and for some reason my perceived pace generally seems to be a lot faster than my actual pace!  I feel like I'm going faster than I actually am.  I'm not sure why this is, but I was talking to Geoff about it and he said 'why don't you just try going a bit harder?'.  So on my 70min run on Wednesday, I decided to follow his suggestion and 'up' my hard pace.  The last 25-30min were supposed to be a build/marathon pace so I decided to just pick it up a little more than I normally would have thought I could handle.  What I noticed was that I felt great, and like I was running at a good clip - faster than usual on that kind of a run - although I have no idea what pace that was.  All I know was that my heart rate didn't seem to be out of control, and I don't think I was at lactate threshold as I didn't feel that lactic acidy feeling in my legs (I don't train with HR monitor so never know what my HR is at).  But it was certainly manageable.

So maybe I just need to push myself a bit more in some of my running workouts, and surprise myself about what paces I am able to handle.  The easy, recovery days will still be done at a super slow pace, but on long runs/interval sessions/tempo, etc, it's time for me to raise the bar.  I'm 're-defining' hard.

I'll keep that in mind for the duration of 25k tomorrow morning, with the beautiful fall colors in the background.  Can't say it enough - I love fall running!