Running: First Week of Spring

[Grog]

My stomach isn't upset, either. Must've been that falafel I ate an hour before I headed out. Go figure.

Now you know what to eat on the morning of your race!!!

Great job with the prep! Are you going to run over 26.2 in training?

[Susan Otcenas]

I skipped my run on Friday. I got up to do it, but fainted about 5 minutes later. It's been a good 15 years since I've fainted, so it was a bit of a shock. (And I just barely missed crashing into a wooden desk. Jeff said I fell like a ton of bricks. Luckily, I landed on my yoga mat! ) So, I went back to bed instead. Didn't seem to have any bad after-effects. Took it easy the rest of the day and then 125 miles on Saturday with no issues. Weird.

So, yesterday was my first run in 5 days. Did 5 miles on the treadmill. Workout was 8 x 3:00 in zone 3+/4- with 2:00 RI (easy jog) between. It was a great workout and I was cooking right along at a pretty good clip. These speed workouts seem to be doing the trick as I'm able to hold higher paces for a little longer than I used to.

Tomorrow is a 9-miler.

[OakLeaf]

Are you going to run over 26.2 in training?

I've read that many marathon plans don't have you run more than 20 miles prior to event day. Does your plan have alot of 20+ training runs?

Magic 8-ball training plan says..... All signs point to YES.

Seriously, I read recently that one of the strongest predictors of hitting "the wall" is not having done more than 20 in training. To me - knowing nothing but my own body - that seems kind of "no duh." Going out and trying to race 33% farther than I'd ever jogged just seems crazy to me.

I've got the time, what's the down-side? As long as I'm being careful about injury prevention, which I'm trying to be. Seven and a half weeks to race day gives me time to hit 26.2 in training a couple of times, anyway, before I start tapering.

Which speaking of injury prevention, I couldn't find my regular Stick yesterday so I pulled out my spiky stick, and when I was done with my legs, I started rolling my feet out. OMG. That was the missing link. I feel so much better!



Ack, Susan, fainted? Yikes! Do you have any idea why? That doesn't sound good.

[artifactos]

I'm new to running (and triathlons), and today was my farthest run yet: a 5k. In 29 minutes or so.

[colby]

Magic 8-ball training plan says..... All signs point to YES.

Seriously, I read recently that one of the strongest predictors of hitting "the wall" is not having done more than 20 in training. To me - knowing nothing but my own body - that seems kind of "no duh." Going out and trying to race 33% farther than I'd ever jogged just seems crazy to me.

I've got the time, what's the down-side? As long as I'm being careful about injury prevention, which I'm trying to be. Seven and a half weeks to race day gives me time to hit 26.2 in training a couple of times, anyway, before I start tapering.

I think once you have done a couple of marathons you know what your body needs, but there is a HUGE mental victory of KNOWING you can make the distance. Even if the benefits are only psychological, positive thinking is HUGE during a long race.

For me, my longest long run needs to be about 22-24 miles for my brain to switch over. For my first couple of marathons, I did only do 20 miles, and that was okay, but I don't feel like I RACED the distance, I just WENT the distance. Which was okay with me then, but isn't now.

For Ironman, I do only run about 20 miles as my longest long run. It might be up to 21 or 22 with warm-up/cool-down miles considered. I guess in that case you know that racing is going to be entirely different than training, so it's a matter of building endurance to carry you, and running long enough that you're confident you can jog, walk, shuffle, or crawl the last 4 miles if it comes to it.

RE: Running barefoot: I have been running in Five Fingers for about 5 weeks. The first week I did one run in them and wore them every day. The next couple of weeks I did every other run in them. Since then, I have done every run in them, including 2 runs of 14 miles. I have been listening to how my body recovers, and so far at this point my FiveFingers recovery time is the same as my body recovery time, but I do require extra stretching and attention to the ankles/calves (I have had to stretch my toes/top of my foot, too ). The first few runs were pretty painful (in a muscle sore way), then as I adjust my running posture I find I am using muscles like my adductors and glutes differently so they get sore, too.

I run on some concrete sidewalks, but mostly asphalt multi-user paved trails. Long runs I avoid as much concrete as possible and finish on grass. The Ironman run course is almost exclusively on asphalt, so I try to stick to it, even if I am not going to run Ironman in the VFFs.

[WindingRoad]

I ran a little over 4.5 today and it felt like 8 I suspect my shoes are getting old so I bought a new pair this evening. I'm starting to get achilles issues again so I'm taking tomorrow off. Tough run day.

[Deborajen]

I did a 2-mile run/walk with my dog today. She's building up mileage on the run/walks. My usual plan is for the run/walk to be an "easy run" but the dog wants to go, go, GO! So the "run" sections end up being more like speedwork. We did walk the last 1/4 mile because she was worn out. It was warm today - in the 70's. I think that took it out of her since it hadn't been that warm yet this year. I haven't been building up the long runs on the weekends like I'd planned to, but I might end up with a new PR in the 2-mile thanks to the dog!

[hammertime]

6 miles on the dreadmill tonight... good run for me.

[WindingRoad]

Started doing ice massages on my achilles and it feels better today but I think I will be taking a couple of days off. The PT-BF says to do them 2 - 3X per day, I'm gearing up for the second one now. Bought new running shoes last night, can't wait to try em out! Alas that will have to wait for a little bit.

[Susan Otcenas]

I think once you have done a couple of marathons you know what your body needs, but there is a HUGE mental victory of KNOWING you can make the distance. Even if the benefits are only psychological, positive thinking is HUGE during a long race.

I completely agree with this. I ran 13 miles twice in training before my half marathon. I really helped to KNOW that I was capable of it. It's the same reason I pre-ran the big hill on the Shamrock course. Knowing that I was perfectly capable of running a several-mile-long hill was a huge confidence builder.

[Susan Otcenas]

Got in 9.3 miles this morning. HR was a little high, but I'm fighting off a head cold. Trying to stay healthy, as I have a 10K race coming up this Sunday!

[limewave]

Just did 200 meter speed work.
I'm in pain.

[Aggie_Ama]

My longest run before my half marathon this weekend has been slightly over 12 miles. Last weekend I found the hilliest course I could and I felt amazing after 8 hilly miles. I am completely relaxed and excited about the run, I really think my training has been great. The bluebonnets are popping and the course should be gorgeous with wildflowers and central Texas' lost pines.

I have been running slow so I am conflicted on the pace group to get in. When I am hydrated and rested I think 10-10:30 is spot on (way down from my 8:30 days) but I don't want to push too hard. I haven't done much training at high intensity for long runs, we were told to keep the long runs at an easier pace. Actually I have never even used a pacer, so I am confused about how I will like that anyway.

I am craving fried food like a mad woman, I have been avoiding. I am not a chocolate girl, but fried food is my vice. 1 day and 20 hours to go!!