It's over, man. Let her go.

Great job, Wes! I finally got to read your blogs, and you're just doing SO well!! Whoo-hoooo!

What you do with the Garmin depends on your goals,whether you are wanting a realistic reading of your pace or of your miles. If you stop the Garmin when you are slowing down, it won't account for that, so it'll give you an unrealistically good pace. But if you don't stop it while you're walking, then it counts toward your miles, although you weren't running them. Know what I mean? Sometimes I do one, sometimes the other, depending on what info I really want for that workout. Ideally, you'd pace yourself such that this isn't an issue, but of course, most of us end up needing to rest at times. :-)

Thanks Coach! I typically keep the time running, stopping it only when I stop at red lights, etc. To me, this is the realistic pace, so all my runs and paces I've posted have been this way. So when you see a 9:00 mile pace, that could mean that I ran a consistent 9:00 pace or that might mean I walked for 30 sec then ran a 8:00 pace the rest of the way (probably doesn't work math wise, but you get the idea - lol).

Typically, I look at my runs like I would a race. The race doesn't stop the clock if I run a blistering 1st mile pace and then now have to walk for a mile to recover from it. The first mile split will be awesome, the next not so much, but over the course of the race, I may be happy with the average pace. I'd just like for my average pace to be closer to the split paces rather than having so many ups and downs. So on my run yesterday, I didn't stop it because if that had been a 4 mile race I was running, that's what my time would have been.

Looking back on it, and had I known how steep the hill really was as well as had more time outside, I would have probably slowly jogged it over to the hill (10:00 pace maybe) then made the goal to run up the hill without stopping even if it was at a 13-15:00 pace. But, when I did walk, I'd set a mark ahead that I would walk to, then I'd run again, usually at a hard pace since I figured that would build more muscle/strength than running slower but farther up the hill. Still trying to figure all this out. :-)

Right now, I don't care as much about hitting a certain pace for my runs as I do about making sure I run 5-6 days per week focusing on 5+ miles per day. I need to do a better job of working in the slow runs (10:00 pace or so) since I've started to speed up my runs and run a faster pace overall, but my splits aren't as consistent as I think they should be across the whole run. Plus, this last week my legs have been feeling like they tire out quickly. Most likely my diet/hydration are playing into it, but it is what it is at this point.

I'm just glad the weather is gorgeous and I can run outside and enjoy the sun without it being too hot!

Thanks for the help, Cara!

Hey bald, interesting comments, looks to me like you are on the right track. I'm like your coach, I stop the watch under some circumstances and sometimes not. Definitely red lights, and definitely if I don't stop it when walking then I count the miles. Sometimes if I am doing a "specialty" workout I don't even bother to track my splits. I know how fast (or slow) I run. (Sometimes I stop it when I don't mean to, but that is another topic.) With my latest injury (improving now, thank goodness) I have been counting treadmill/elliptical miles. Some people do that and some don't. Bottom line, it's your blog and you get to make the rules!

Ha Ha, thanks Flat. Yes, it is my blog...but I like to be consistent as well. I stop it at red lights, which I think is appropriate. Otherwise I'll keep it going. I really need to try and not walk, but slow the pace WAY down if necessary. I always scold myself when I walk because I know that I wouldn't want to walk in a race, and that I know that most "real runners" don't walk during races and most likely training runs. Maybe not an accurate view, but that's my view...