Why run a marathon slower than you can

The other day I ran eighth in a row, and the slowest in my running career marathon, because it decided to do it with the girl, with her speed. The result was different from my personal record by more than an hour. And yet it is a very interesting experience - not to rush headlong, and try sprinting like a meditative process, feel is quite different than usual.

You do not uparyvaeshsya, and restrains, you run slowly, and as a result the body works very differently. None of this terrible fatigue in the second half of the race after 21km mark. No known all the "wall" when glycogen ends and move on very, very difficult in the muscles. There is even a special muscle fatigue due to a too high level of lactic acid: I ran with an average pulse 133 beats per minute, and in this case the generation of very low lactate.

By the way, a long jog on a low pulse - a great way to lose weight. After all, a low pulse duration and high loads lead to burning more fat.

Slow run a marathon - a great way to look at the familiar city through different eyes. When a measured race you can look good and feel no pedestrian or motorist, and someone completely new. Someone who you can run to cut off the streets and not be afraid of cars. If more and you are lucky with the weather, it will be ideal to explore the city!

This slow marathon we ran in Barcelona. And I was able, first, to visit new places for themselves, even though he was in the city for at least five times, and secondly, to see something completely different. Imagine that now 17-km marathon, and you race on the sunlit city by the Cathedral of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia). Feeling just space! A start and finish at Barcelona track from the speakers, where Freddie Mercury (Freddie Mercury) and Montserrat Caballe (Montserrat Caballé) performed this song live, - a separate pleasure.

Another long-forgotten feeling of runners with experience - to start at the very end, in the twenty thousand runners. I usually fall somewhere near the beginning of the start of the corridor, where, as a rule, can be found only trained people. This time, it was very interesting to look at the newcomers. They are completely different, and certainly then suffered because of excessive stocks like warming yourself or one and a half liters of water on a belt. However, they were felt tenacity and courage: just pick up and go to the start - this is still a challenge to myself.

In this sense, we can distinguish two types of motivation:

1. When you aspire to better their results and all your training aimed at to run, so to speak, for another one to two minutes faster.
2. When your goal is not to be faster and be healthier and will not necessarily be continuously improved through an increasing acceleration.

In the book "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running"Haruki Murakami (Haruki Murakami) writes that he wants to run quietly for 10 kilometers every day and one marathon a year. And he has enough motivation to not merge and do not throw it all and move, move, move forward... not necessarily the fastest way, but sometimes it is more important than just persistence.

I do not know if I want to run another marathon in 4 hours 37 minutes. Still, I'm more motivated by ego and a desire to be "faster, higher, stronger" - well, you know. However, a slow marathon - it is such an enjoyable experience that I recommend all-all. Yes, with a girl on the handle. Get a lot of fun, especially if it is correct, and will pick up the race season. ;-)