Picking Up the Pace

The other day after my run I decided to convert my kilometers/hour to miles/hour. I am now running on a treadmill, which I thought I'd hate, but am actually quite enjoying it. After I converted my pace I was very down that I was running very slowly. It was Valentine's Day and I felt deflated...

...The next day while I was on the elliptical a man was running on the treadmill in front of me. I really, really try not to look at other's stats on their machine...but I did. I noticed he was running for three minutes at a moderate pace and then he would kick it up to a speed run for two minutes. Occasionally he would lower it way down to a jog. I suddenly realized that I didn't have to be a slow runner forever! I decided that I too would kick up the pace every few minutes to train my body to be faster...DUH! 

You see, my training app doesn't address pace until the 10K training and I am way back at my 5K training right now. I do "longer" runs three days a week, but this week on my off days I am doing shorter runs focusing on picking up the pace...and guess what? Today I was able to run my longer run at a consistent faster pace than at the beginning of the week. 

I also had a change of thinking. 

I felt I was pushing myself by just making it through the training sessions. I now know that I have to do a little more to push myself during the training sessions. You can quote me on that:)

That same day as I saw "the running man" I found this on Pinterest! I love it!

Some of you may hate running on a treadmill, but it is great that you don't have to have a fancy watch to track your pace and distance. 

Hooray for running! 

Hooray for running just a little bit faster!