Sardines! They’d Better Not Suck.

Lately, I randomly have been buying different types of canned fish. Weird, I know, but I think Sunset Magazine implanted some seed in my head with their July issue. It was all, “small fish are wonderful! Don’t throw them back!”, blah blah blah. Mackerel, sardines, anchovies, smelt, etc.

So when I saw a can of sardines in Louisiana Hot Sauce sitting on the shelf in Fresh & Easy I thought, “I MUST HAVE THESE.” Didn’t really think how they would actually fit into my meal planning.

The Husband generally wants nothing to do with canned fish (unless it’s tuna) so with him having dinner with his bro, it’s sardines for me this evening! What am I, 80?

It’s also an evening of the dogs anxiously awaiting his return. I swear, as I write this they are hanging out in the foyer area like he will magically appear. Clearly I am not important. Though I might need them as a diversion  since I just finished off his bag of Goldfish (mmm, salty snacks).

Anyway.

So, last weekend I had a horrendous run. I had my new Garmin 110 (since my old 205 bought the farm); I was ex-ci-ted to use it and proceeded to go out waaaay too fast for a long run. The last two miles were peppered with walk breaks.

Which reminded me of two weeks ago when I got the chance to go to a 50 minute workshop/talk given by a San Diego runner/writer/coach. One of the things he said was you can’t bank time – this whole notion of “banking time” is bunk.

Really?

Because I kind of use that strategy a lot. Though if I’m being objective, it has worked maybe 20% of the time.

This run was a clear example that you can’t bank time. The previous weekend’s 12 miles was 9:15 pace, followed a week later by 13 miles at 9:34 (20 seconds slower – I timed my walks).

So, yesterday, I had 14 on my plate. The weather was similar to last Sunday, as was the weekday mileage, though I started this run from a different point (because running through Leucadia on the 101 can be a major pain in the ass with curbside tables monopolizing pedestrian walkways; anything over 13, I start further north).

I think the fact that I had deviated my route made me not feel the need to charge through the beginning. I started off with 9:25 and 9:30 for the first two miles. Only nose breathing and very easy.

First 7 miles, 65:17. Last 7 miles, 65:08.

Hello negative split, where have you been? I was like a freaking metronome on 9:19. Three mile splits were 9:19. I felt like a weird running robot continually seeing 9:19 (or 9:18, 9:17) on my splits.

Now, this is great and all, but in a race – how in the heck can I get myself to run a bit slower, but not all out slow long run pace?  I have a really hard time running like 8:30. It’s like, I immediately end up in the low 8’s, high 7’s in a half marathon. Maybe I need to do some runs just a bit slower than half marathon pace to get the feel?