Mileage Reporting 39th week 2013
- Thread starter Scratch
- Start date
Yah, that's the premise I'm operating under in my push to up the daily and weekly mileage, but it's good to hear your endorsement, along with DNEChris's and others.
I know from my cycling experience, when I would average about eight hours per day in the saddle, that the speed comes on its own, given enough aerobic conditioning. The reason I gave greater emphasis previously to hills, tempo, and intervals was because I wasn't ready to push the distance (as my spat of injuries last fall proved), and wasn't sure if everyday running was going to be practicable for me, so I was looking for accelerators.
But now I can run over ten miles with no soreness in my knees, and ITB issues seem a distant memory (knock on wood), so I'll keep experimenting with a mix of longer runs and shorter run-commutes and see where it takes me. I'm already dreaming of a few 17/18-mile routes, but I think I'll try to stay between 10 and 13 miles for another 2-4 weeks to make sure my head isn't getting ahead of my heart & legs. I really hate it when the end of a run turns into a slog.
I would still like to get down to the track once a week though, and really open things up with some sprints or strides. That was my intention on Sunday, pre-boatride, but I got lazy. Unlike you, I enjoy speedwork. I think I'll also try to finish off at least one longer run per week with 2-3 miles at tempo pace, or maybe do a shorter tempo run as part of my run commute. This morning I found it quite easy to accelerate at the end, but all the damn debris and truck traffic made it hard to sustain.
Lee, you might want to try throwing in some strides from time to time. You accelerate for about 10 seconds, hold that speed for another 20 seconds, then give yourself a minute and a half break before the next repetition. That'll give you some benefit of the neuromuscular adaptations you need for faster running, but without a whole lot of extra stress. There's also Brad Hudson and other coaches' idea of short hill sprints, 8 to 10 seconds of all out effort up a good slope, then full full recovery, like 2 or 3 minutes, between each hill sprint.
I think your legs are feeling good on your easy runs or long runs, the strides can probably be a good boost and sometimes help break up the monotony of running at one pace most of the time.
I think your legs are feeling good on your easy runs or long runs, the strides can probably be a good boost and sometimes help break up the monotony of running at one pace most of the time.
Thanks for the suggestion Scratch. I already do a version of strides down on the track, which is just accelerating throughout the length of the field, in addition to full-out sprints, but I'll give your version a try on one of my next runs, maybe towards the end of my next longer run. I've also been meaning to incorporate fartleks, which fit in well with my lazy mentality. I like the idea of running harder for however long I feel like it, and then slowing down again. The problem is, first thing in the morning, it takes me a while to warm up, and sometimes I never feel like going faster than easy pace, but I think that's beginning to change as I adapt to the schedule a bit more, as well as the distances.
Until a few weeks ago I had also been doing a mix of hill repeats and hill sprints as one of my workouts, and I need to get back to that once in a while. It's just that they don't fit in well with my new approach of one day long(ish) run, one day run-commute, unless I extend one run commute per week to include some hills. But then that starts to really eat into the workday. Basically, I'm leaving Sunday as the day I can do some track work or hills or both, but the scheduling can sometimes be tricky.
In any case, I absolutely agree with your main point, that in addition to the aerobic conditioning, some neuromuscular adaptation with hills or some kind of speedwork will help accelerate the process of becoming a faster runner. Right now I'm kind of enamored with my new-found ability to run greater distances comfortably, but I'm sure the romance will cool down in a bit and I'll return to a more balanced diet of run-types.
Possibly the most comfortable 8 mile run of my life this morning. I settled into an easy pace that ended up being very close to 10 mm until mile 7, then without feeling like I was speeding up I found myself running 9:45 and 9:40, in that order. I ran the whole 8.3 miles in almost the same amount of time I ran 7 miles last week (which was on a bit rougher pavement, though) and I never felt like I was breathing hard, but I felt like I was running. It was glorious!
My own feeling is don't be afraid to throw some strides in on a longer or a longish run if the legs are feeling good and you're not already grinding it out some. Like last night, after getting the 3.5 done and my friend calling it a night, I then threw in 4x30s strides in between miles 3.5 and 4.5, then finished up with a mile cooldown of easier pace, but somewhat faster than what I had run the first 3.5 miles. I've been liking the ideas I see in Tinman's training philosophies and right now my plan is to try to do some strides in the middle of my easy runs which are going at least over 3 miles, the idea being that gives me 10 to 15 minutes of warmup time, then a stretch where I throw in the strides, and then at least 5 minutes but hopefully more on the order of 10 to 15 minutes of cooldown running. It just seems like a really good idea to get the legs all good and warm, throw in the small injections of speed, and then cooldown and circulate some blood through the legs.
So I think that gave me a good workout last night. Got some good distance to expand my aerobic capabilities, and got in that tiny bit of faster running to break up the monotony some and hopefully improve the coordination of my body while running faster.
Hopefully, once I get all ramped up, I will be able to manage 1 long run a week, 1 tempo run, and some strides in on the easy and long runs where the legs are feeling good.
So I think that gave me a good workout last night. Got some good distance to expand my aerobic capabilities, and got in that tiny bit of faster running to break up the monotony some and hopefully improve the coordination of my body while running faster.
Hopefully, once I get all ramped up, I will be able to manage 1 long run a week, 1 tempo run, and some strides in on the easy and long runs where the legs are feeling good.
Back and hips.
Just signed up for a 4 trail miler this coming Saturday. Wish me luck...if it's not too much to ask of course
Just signed up for a 4 trail miler this coming Saturday. Wish me luck...if it's not too much to ask of course
Back and hips.
Just signed up for a 4 trail miler this coming Saturday. Wish me luck...if it's not too much to ask of course
Going for the win?
Yah, I think my preference would be for fartleks simply because I'm lazy and don't like having to think about exact numbers or effort levels. Plus with street running it's not always easy to measure things in time rather than, say, the distance between two poles or streets. But the principle is the same, of mixing up paces within a longer run.
I did fartleks a little bit last year, but then somehow got away from it. I've been meaning to get back to it, but with first, the early morning transition, and now, the push to increase my distances, I haven't wanted to add another variable. I got a bit shell-shocked from repeated injuries last year (TOFP, ITBS, MCL sprain, calf cramp), so I'm trying to go about this latest push in a hyper-controlled and cautious manner. But mixing up paces is definitely something I've been thinking of, and like you say, it would be easy to incorporate something like strides without having to dedicate a whole run to faster pace running.
I just need to make sure I'm not throwing too much stimulus for my legs to adapt to at the same time. I've surprised myself so far, but I don't want to get overconfident and ruin everything. Last Saturday when my wife called asking me to hurry home, I managed to finish off my 8-miler with a good pace over three or so miles. That suggests that I'm ready to push the pace a bit more, which I tried to do this morning again, but I'm still going to always do less than I probably can. That's been the secret to getting over my injuries (along with my dogma of never running fatigued).
Until recently I tried to follow a program similar to the one you're going after. I would do my longer run on the weekend, and then two middle-distance runs during the week, where (ideally) one would be tempo and one would be hills or intervals. I think on a 3x per week schedule, that's a very good mix. I may end up going back to that too. For the time being at least, I'm interested in exploring the weekly mileage angle, something I hadn't really thought about too much before. It's really exciting to think that a plodding old guy like me can wake up and knock off 10 miles with ease, or rack up 30, 40, maybe more miles per week without having my knees come unhinged.
In any case, it's great to hear of a fellow bfrunner's progress and ideas. It's inspiring and motivating.
Watch out everyone, Abide just decloaked.
How's your PF Abide? I hope it's cleared up.
I'll give it my best shot don't know how competitive this race is. I'll see when I get there.
That's right, it's not as easy to get away with running holding a bag of brown 25 when you don't have a dog running with you.
Did a nice 5.4 mile a little later then usual. Now I remember why I like to go early. It's the traffic. One bat and one bunny was all. Temps are a nice 68 same hi humidity. Am looking forward to my 1st 8 miler Saturday. We'll see how that goes. I suspect it will go smoothly.
Every thing just fine
Every thing just fine
did an easy 3 miler with my dog. left the neighbors at home and it was a much easier run. that guy isn't fixed so he wants to stop all the time.
Same old same old. I droppped halfway through my 50k the other week. Started prolotherapy a couple of weeks ago but so far not much has changed.
The good thing is I can still lift. And I am going to start running again tomorrow, damn the PF!
Your neighbors aren't fixed? That's good right?
WHAT! you can't sign up for a race and not race to win! Go kick some ass! Unless you are running against 6 year olds, then you can take it easy Dama.
You missed my post where I took an age graded overall female first place trophy and 50 bucks couple of weeks ago
