Bonehead Move Of The Week

You know your week is starting off well when your Bonehead Move comes on a Sunday. Somehow I just knew I wouldn't top this one the rest of the week.

So I'm doing my 20 min run off the bike. My instructions were to go out at an easier pace for the first 10 mins, then come back a bit faster, sub 8:30. OK. I cruise out for the first 10, then make the turn and start picking it up. I figured I would pick it up gradually, but as I looked at my watch I could see that I was picking it up REALLY gradually. It felt like I would step it up noticeably, but only see a 2 second or so difference in my pace. For the first several minutes, this continued. Noticeable increase in effort, tiny change in pace. What was up?? My mind started thinking of all the reasons why this could be- did I not fuel properly? Did I not eat right the day before? Was I sleep-deprived? I know I've been focusing on my biking lately, riding Saturday and Sunday instead of one or the other and not really doing a long run. I knew that meant my run would suffer somewhat, but was it really going to be this dramatic? I could barely get down to 8:30 pace, and I used to cruise pretty easy at that speed. What's happening to me? My mind was racing.

With about a minute and a half to go, I'm pushing way hard, when something in the back of my mind went "wait a second"... I checked my Garmin again and realized I had been looking at my AVERAGE pace that whole time. I clicked over to my instantaneous pace- 7:06. A-HA! Houston, we found the problem.

Yes, I am that tool who doesn't know how to read her own instruments. Although, I have definitely never made this mistake before.

At least my run isn't falling apart as badly as I was fearing!!