At this morning’s Turkey Trot, I told a friend that I wanted to run my first mile at a 7:30 pace and, then, pick it up.
“7:30? What’s that in kilometres?”
“I don’t know exactly. Around 4:25?” was my reply.
I don’t run with a Garmin (although I would like to). Instead, I run by how I feel; I listen to my breathing, the rhythm of my feet, and the tightness in my chest. There isn’t much science to it, but it works.
When it comes to race day, I keep an eye on my watch at every kilometre marking. Once I hit my first K, I use that as my factor to see if I’m on pace to calculate the kilometres that follow; usually, I am.
You know you’re a runner when you can quickly calculate paces and times in your head and be fairly accurate.
But you really know you’re a runner when you’re in the kitchen, look at the clock and read 4:52.
“4:52. What happened? Oh wait, that’s my marathon goal pace (for a 3:25). No, wait! That’s the real time.”
Sigh….
Oh, I'm so far behind on your blog… So, I see the name Kevin Smith and he's straight Jay and Silent Bob, and now he is 2 fast runners. You characterize those finishers as strange, but I still think even stranger is that they not only had a 30-49AG, but you won it. This flood of hardware just cannot be stopped.
You also made me realize that my kids have never seen The Wizard of Oz, guess I better plant the seed now, because I would love to have the skipping-arm-in-arm experience. You are so lucky!
OK, and I am The total numbers freak.
I see a phone extension like x2211 and immediately associate '2008 Independence Day 5K' which just proves we never turn off.
I'm hoping that one day, you see 4:52 and think 'And that's how I earned that 3:25!'
I find when I run I am constantly doing math in my head — sure makes the time fly by. Of course I never did say my math was accurate, but it sure entertains me!
I'm a runner and I'm terrible at calculating times and paces in my head. I was reminded again of this yesterday over the last 5 miles of the race when I was trying to figure out what pace I'd need to maintain to hit my goal.
Also, I got a Garmin 110 back in July and I absolutely love it. Small and simple, with no extra bells and whistles.
I ordered a Garmin yesterday, as a xmas present from my wife. 🙂 I won't get it until xmas, but I'm already looking forward to playing with it.