Last night was a fun-filled night of Olympic Ceremony watching and eating brownies. I went to bed at 11 since my alarm clock was going off at 7:04 (note: I am weird and only set my alarm at times other than :00 and :05). My friend Meg, who is training for her first marathon, as well, wanted to join me. She said her scheduled long run this week was 10 miles and since mine was 11 miles, I thought we could compromise and do 11 (hehe). I woke up this morning still feeling full from the million and one brownies I ate last night and I already had a feeling I would be cramping up within the 1st mile. I had set out all of my running gear the night before so I was ready, even though my stomach wasn’t.
Meg got here around 730 and we shared a lemon honey stinger waffle and brought lemon iced tea nuun for the road. I didn’t really eat breakfast this morning which may seem like a bad idea but since I felt full from the night before, I was scared for the stomach cramps it might cause.
And then we got on the road. Mile 1 wasn’t too bad and we felt somewhat ok. 9:11 pace. Then it went downhill. And not literally because my town has a lot of hills and there was a lot of uphill trekking. Meg informed me along the way that her longest run was 7 miles. I had NO IDEA. I told her that 11 miles is too much of a jump for her from 7. But then she informed me that her longest run of 7 miles was about 2 MONTHS AGO! I almost killed her. She ended up doing pretty well for the 10 miles she ran. I ran another mile to get to my 11 after she finished. But we definitely hit some speed bumps (literally) along the way.
I used my watch for the first time and I am not sure if others have had this problem but it told me I was running A LOT slower than I usually do. Assumption #1: Has my Nike Running app lied to me and made me think I was a speed demon this whole time when I was really running 10:20 miles instead of 8:36 miles? Assumption #2: My new Garmin could not find a signal easily. Or my pace. It seemed like it took the FR210 a little longer to find my pace after a walk break. It definitely said I was running an 11 min mile when I was definitely running around 9. Anyway, Meg was definitely a little ambitious when it came to this run and had not trained on hills, at all. She is training for the Baltimore Marathon and if anyone has run that race, they know Baltimore has some mad hills. I ran the half last year and I almost died. I lived in Baltimore and never realized there were so many hills. Around mile 5, i started to feel a lot better and my legs and stomach felt pretty good so I picked up the pace and Meg slipped behind which made me feel like a horrible running buddy. I ended up running ahead and then waiting for her to catch up a few times. At Mile 8, she stopped and just told me to go ahead. I ended up running the last 3 miles without her and she met me back at my house.
I am very disappointed in today’s long run. Yes, there is always next week but I am more upset about the pacing issue with what I thought I was running and what the Garmin said I was running. Granted, I did stop a lot to walk with Meg and try to be a good running buddy. I am hoping the Garmin just hiccuped a little bit on his first time out there with me. When I knew I was running a 9ish minute per mile pace, the Garmin was saying 11min/mile. That doesn’t make sense to me because even on those days you feel faster than you are, I would know if I was running an 11 minute mile. Has anybody had this problem? I am sure my Garmin was fine and I was both having an off day due to my brownie binge and helping Meg out. But just to make myself feel better, I am going to say that I am right and my Garmin is wrong. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. According to my Garmin, my 11.01 mile run today was done in 1:54:07 or roughly an 10:16 pace. LIES! My new philosophy is that whatever the pace, I am still running faster than the people sitting at home. Thanks Pinterest!
After a few large glasses of ice water, I changed out of my sweaty clothes and headed to the Farmer’s Market with Meg, and my two roomies Alyssa and Jen.
I am so excited for all the goods we bought. I picked up some zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, eggplant, watermelon, peaches, bread, blackberries, and blueberries! All for under $25!! Now I am off to cook up some deliciousness with all of my fruits and veggies.
Has anyone had problems with their Garmin and its calculated paces? I need help!
Ritsa Runs on Fitness 
My Garmin won’t get signal unless I am standing still. And Nike+ (or whatever it’s called) always tells me I’m a bit faster then my Garmin (usually about :15-:20 per mile). Hope that helps! Good luck training!!
Thanks!! I am going to see how my next run goes with the Garmin when I am actually running the pace I am used to.
Hi Ritsa! I found your blog through Running Bun. Wanted to chime in here as I also have a Garmin FR 210. What pace setting was your garmin set to for your run (actual pace, lap pace or overall pace)? I remember that my Garmin said my pace was slower than what my Runkeeper and/or Nike+ apps on my iPhone said my pace was (I used them simultaneously a few times to compare when I first got my Garmin). I think the Garmin has a more accurate GPS signal than the phone apps. But mine was off by 20-30 seconds, not 2 minutes. So it could be something else going on to cause this. The reason that I asked about the pace setting is that I noticed my pace varies quite a bit when it’s on the actual pace setting depending how fast you are moving at that second the measurement is taken, so it could potentially vary widely every time you look at it while you might still be running consistent miles at a 10:16 average pace. Hope that makes sense and that you figure out what it going on! Glad I found your blog and looking forward to reading about your Philly training. I would like to run that race some day.
Thanks for all the info! I actually went into the settings and switched it from lap pace to actual pace and it seemed to be more accurate! Also welcome to my blog! 🙂