I went 18 miles yesterday. Last time I ran longer than 17 was the Boston Marathon, April 2010 – long time ago. It wasn’t planned when I left the house, I was expecting to do 14 or 15 but the day was nice, I was running well and it seemed like a fun thing to do, just to see how 18 miles would feel. It was a great run, 8:11 pace with a low heart rate, no fatigue at the end, no wishing it was over, just enjoyment.
There really is something to be said about this casual increasing of distances and efforts. I like it so much that I plan to continue this model long-term (knocking on wood for continued health):
1. Summer base-building, completely low-key, emphasis on volume
2. firm it up for Fall racing, try to keep the mileage up through the season (racing will naturally interfere some, but it’s ok)
3. take 1-2 weeks off completely as Winter sets in, then
4. spend Winter running mid-60s to 70s (no way I’m doing 90mpw in wintry suck) – again keeping it casual
5. returning to 90mpw and race prep in the Spring.
The trouble with higher mileage in singles
As you know, I prefer doing all my runs in singles and so far, it’s been just fine. However, now that I’m adding in quality work, scheduling becomes more complicated. I only have one short day, Monday, which I consider to be a recovery day or “my little reward for having completed another chunky week” so it’s a putter day if I choose. That leaves me 6 days of double-digit runs in which to place speed and tempo workouts. This is why extending the Long Run to 18 and beyond is helpful, as it lets me shorten a workout day.
Not that it’s horrible to do a speed or tempo in the midst of a longer run, it’s just a pain in the ass. Because if I do it towards the front of the run, energy levels are good but that leaves a lot of miles afterwards. Alternately, if I wait towards the end of a run as I would for speedwork (because 1-2 miles is the most I want to deal with after that type of effort) then that’s an 8-9 mile warmup…a tad excessive.
Additionally, the day preceding a quality day will probably always be 14 or more, which means my legs aren’t exactly bouncy when it’s time to do the workout. And with my preference for 2 days between quality sessions…you see how it can be limiting.
On the other hand, quality days within longer runs aren’t the worst thing ever, it’s certainly good for endurance, but you have to accept that there will be some performance tradeoff. So if I find I’m too tired to do the workouts properly or that my progress is being held back because of it, I will either have to drop some mileage (even 5mi would help) or incorporate a couple doubles.
The good thing is that I’m satisfied with any progress at the moment and am in no hurry to get from A to Z. So I won’t be making any changes just yet, but this is an ongoing experiment and it’s interesting to see how these components will unfold as the workouts go from baby steps to Real.
My Goals and Revisiting Marathons
I wrote a post on the 3:20 thread the other day in response to the usual teasing from my forum pals about my “Great marathon training, Flo!” or asking me when my next Full is. It always makes me laugh and I haven’t said anything about goals in a long time because I stopped having any. Well, that’s not exactly true, I’ve had a sub-20 5K goal for almost 2 frickin’ years, lol, and if I don’t get it this Fall, there’s something seriously wrong with me (meaning, I’m confident it’ll happen).
But anyway, I finally said something goal-ish to my 3:20 pals because I wanted to admit I have one, even if it’s a while down the line. This is a goal I’ve secretly coveted for ages but dismissed for being impossible, but here it is back on the table… a 1:30 Half. NOTE: I have to make this super clear before anyone gives me a “you can do it!” before I’m ready; it ain’t gonna happen this year! It’s a 2012 goal but the fact that I even have it (and think it’s acquirable) is beautiful. So that’s my #1, long-term goal.
Now about those pesky marathons…
While on a run the other day, I got to thinking about the things I disliked about marathons and marathon training: those interminable long runs, the way improper nutrition or hydration can kill a race, that bad weather can crush months of hard training in an instant, not to mention my feet always get beat up and hurt like hell during a marathon. Then it hit me that two of those things are no longer applicable.
Long Runs are obviously not heinous anymore and 6 purple toenails later my feet are acclimated to constant pounding (crazy how bad my feet got the moment I raised my mileage, but all is well now). As for the other things, I still hate them. I haven’t had a gel on a training run since March 2010 and love not having to worry about it, and the thought of racing hard for 3+ hours in crappy weather turns my stomach. I’m not ever going to be someone who finds the challenge of those things exciting or something to rise above, it’ll always be irritating shit in my book.
Now here’s a thing: about a year and a half ago when I announced “no more marathons”, I told my friend Lara that there was one lone circumstance in which I’d reconsider the decision and that was if I could confidently go after a sub 3:10. It was a “when pigs fly” type of remark because I knew it was never gonna happen. But now I’m not so sure what I know or don’t know anymore – there’s really no telling where this new phase will lead.
If, for some crazy reason, I’m able to drop my times to where 3:09:59 seams feasible, then I actually would probably go for it. But I still don’t love the marathon distance, so please nobody expect me to be perusing Rock N Steal Your Money Roll’s website for the latest fab race any time soon, it’ll be a while, if ever.
So that’s what’s been going through my head lately. Since what I’m doing is pretty much marathon training. How ever the hell that happened.
