A Comfortable Pace

While Nicole is working towards transitioning to a 2 arrow shoe, I am sticking with my 238’s until the end of May. After having some funky foot pain from running a bit too far in my F-Lite 230’s before I should have (shhh don’t tell), I took a brief break right at the start of my journey. I want to give myself plenty of time to transition fully and let my knees and feet catch up to the rest of me.

Today, I ran only three miles, but at a quicker pace than most as of late. Although it was a shorter run, the comfort (“comfort” might be an exaggeration) I experienced at a 6.5 on the treadmill or 9:23 mile, which I maintained for most of my run, was…exciting. I can’t believe it felt, dare I say, natural. It didn’t right away, but after a half mile or so, I settled in nicely. I could have easily continued at this pace for a couple more miles, but time got in the way.

According to Runner's World's, my true comfortable pace is when I am not gasping for air and I am at a pace that has my heart rate at 70% of its maximum rate. They recommend being able to take three strides when breathing in, and three more while breathing out. I will have to test this out tomorrow.

For their entire Tempo Running piece, click here

What is your comfortable pace? How long did it take you to get to this point?