Saturday, April 7, 2012

Final Mile...

Hello again!

I just got back in from my sixth run this week. The DailyMile widget over on the right is already recording a weekly distance of 26 miles, but that's because it rounds up - I've actually run 6 x 4.26 miles, so 25.56 miles so far.

And that, of course, means that I have less than one mile to go hit my target of covering a marathon distance this week!

I'll be really proud of it as an achievement, but I know that to the more serious runners out there (the ones who, you know, actually run marathons), it might seem like small potatoes.

It has made me wonder though, what my actual running limits are. I've chosen my regular distance of 4-and-a-bit miles, just because at a regular pace I can cover that distance, plus a pre-run warm up and a post-run shower, in more or less exactly an hour. That made it nice and easy to fit into my daily schedule.

There are two stats I often see other runners quote though, that I have no data for:


1) How fast I can run a mile
2) How far can I run non-stop


My average speed over my usual run is about 9-10 minutes a mile, but I never sprint (expect occasionally right at the end), and I am pacing myself for the whole distance, so I would be interested to see how fast I can run just a single mile, flat out. I'd have to find a running track or something to test it out though, as I usually run on the busy London streets, and regularly have to stop for traffic or sleepy pedestrians!

As for how far I can run...I honestly don't know. I certainly feel ready to stop once I've reached the end of my regular distance. Then again, my breathing has usually returned to normal within about 20 seconds of stopping, and my time hasn't really improved after about a year of running...so I expect I'm not really pushing myself as far as I could go.

I'm tempted to try both these out in due course. Not too soon though - going to give myself a day off after Marathon Week!

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