I ran this morning with the goal of beating my previous time with my Garmin 220. My previous time was 7:06.1, so I not only wanted to beat that time, but I also wanted to get below the 7 minute mark. I was convinced I could do it after my 4:14 1km time the other day.
Well, I was right! After a 1.1 mile warm-up, I clocked a mile at 6:56.2. About 1/4 mile in, I wasn't sure I was going to make it as I dipped a bit on the slow side of 7 minutes/mile. I started to pay attention to my breathing, and rather than the "3 strides inhaling, 2 strides exhaling" I went with 2 and 2. I think with the faster speed, this is better. Plus, it gave me something to think about besides how much it was sucking to be running at this speed.
By the time I had reached the halfway point, I was feeling better about my chances, since I was showing a pace of 6:55 or so, and there was no more upgrade on my planned course...nothing significant, anyway. I did get back into +7 territory by a few seconds, but I knew that I could kick it in another gear for the last few 100 yards to make up a few seconds. This is just what happened, and when I saw that I had 0.1 left and I was still under 7, I was thrilled! I ended up besting my previous time by 10 seconds. I'll take it!
Now, I'm looking forward to doing a weekend of much easier miles!
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