3 Day Results

I would have to say that my 3 day challenge was a success simply by committing to it and accomplishing it. But after looking at the timed results, it would appear it was a success on that platform as well. Here is the mile by mile breakdown over a 3-day period:

Plan: Run 10 miles three days in-a-row
Route: A 5 mile out and back the same for all three days


Day 1

Legs felt sluggish from the start, but the goal was to finish with a 9 min. per mile pace (mission accomplished) and not burn myself out on day 1. It was also my first time running the route, so there were a few moments of: "OK, let's turn here."

Drink during run: Orange Gatorade
Food at 5 mi. mark: Strawberry Banana Gu

Day 2

Legs felt great from the start. Goal was to beat previous day's time, but keep in mind there is a day 3 (mission accomplished).

Drink before run: Red Bull
Drink during run: Orange Gatorade
Food at 5 mi. mark: Chocolate Gu (my favorite)

Day 3

Legs felt as sluggish as day 1, bottoms of my feet were sore and energy level was low. Goal was to simply finish the 10 mi without injury, somewhere between the finishing times of Day 1 & 2 (mission surpassed with exact time as day 2).

Note: As you can see the last 3 miles of Day 3 there was a gradual increase in mile time because I realized that if I picked up my pace, I could meet (or beat) Day 2's time.

Extra special Note: The final mile of all three days produced the fastest min. per mile pace.

Drink before run: Red Bull
Drink during run: Orange Gatorade (ok, there was a sale, so I bought a case of the orange; sheesh)
Food at 5 mi. mark: Espresso Gu (not my favorite, but it has a 2x caffeine)

The first thing that stands out are the negative splits across the board. (Negative Splits mean running the second half faster than the first.) These are ideal in all conditions and something we runners strive for (not all, but I'd be comfortable in saying most).

The second thing that struck me was that the third day had almost identical times as day two. Sure, day three was more consistent, but the 5 mile mark and 10 mile mark look very similar. With the way I was feeling on Day 3, these were unexpected results

The third thing would be the interesting number of calories burned per run. Apparently there is no equivalent in calories burned and how fast your finish time is. Maybe it lies in the pace per mile? More research is needed.

Well, there it is. My 3 day challenge is complete. Did the pre-run Red Bull produce faster times? Not sure about that one, but it is an interesting occurrence. Also, with my legs feeling the best on Day 2, it didn't create the best overall run... that I believe goes to Day 3 with each mile being run at a more consistent pace and the final 3 miles (arguably last 7 miles), run at an increasingly faster pace. Gotta love my Garmin — it has improved my running tremendously, by allowing me to see results.

Thanks for following along and adding comments on facebook. It added some motivation to get out there on day 3.