(Long and Less Long) Runs - 1/20 to 2/4

[Tri Girl]

Great job, Colby!

Ran 9.5 today. I could tell it's been over a week since I ran. Wasn't pretty, painless, or fast, but it got done. Sometimes injury is a good thing- makes you stretch more and listen to your body more (things I should be doing all the time regularly anyway, but sometimes neglect).

We rock, girls!!!

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Guys,
I was on my easy week, so I just ran two more yesterday. So only a total of 4 this week.

Riding today...brrrrr....

[yellow]

Spring seems to be right around the corner. We got a little snow this week but not enough to boost the XC skiing back up to an activity worth considering (especially since it was 45*F yesterday! Too warm! Too warm!).

That being said, I had some very muddy trail runs this week and one run on pavement. My grand total for the week was 16. I may go out for a run later today but I have some nonrunning noncycling friends in town that require entertainment (they are not staying with me; they are staying with other friends but for some reason they have all appointed me the activity hostess, even though they know "what to do around here" better than I do ). So I think 16 is it for me.

[Wahine]

Well, I've had a seriously slack week. I rand 5.5 on Thur. Today I'm going out to do a test set - 1 mile at 9-11 beats below my LT heartrate. I get to jog the the highschool, run my test, then "continue with the rest of my workout". What I want to know is, don't these guys that write this programs know that you're bagged after a test set? What "rest of my workout", I thought that would be it. I'll run a total of about 1 hour today.

I had a good rest week with some great results on my test sets:

1000 mtr TT in the pool: 17:45 and 10 km TT on my trainer maintaining 9 beats below my LT, 16:47, that's about 35 kph avg. Of course I'd never be able to maintain that in real life - outside with hills and elements etc, not to mention that the bike portion of the race is, like 18x that long.

So it looks like inspite of a couple of years not racing, I'm right back on track. My swim is a little slower than it used to be, but hey, it's early in the season.

[KSH]

Well, 3 more today.

I did all the miles my coach told me to do... a grand total of 11 miles.

Tri Girl- I hope you are OK! Please let us know how the healing goes. Try not to overdo it.

Btchance- Happy to hear you are doing OK, and it was just a scare.

Colby- A 5K! Awesome! 20 degrees? COLD!

Wahine- I didn't understand really what you wrote... but it sounds hard to me!

Aggie- It looks like a nice weather week in Texas is coming up! Today was great... 68 degrees. WOO-HOO! Too bad I was so tired after my run, or I would have gone riding some more (did 25 miles before the run). I am sure I will be outside at lunch running this coming week.

[Grog]

Wow what a wonderful week I've had!

Recovery week, that is.

And my six-feet-tall running partner was away for part of the week, so I ran with this other girl who's much shorter and doesn't run so fast. I was in much better control of my heart rate and didn't feel my legs were heavy at any time this week. It's good, once in a while.

Back to the grind on Tuesday morning!!!

[btchance]

I did another 3 miles on the treadmill today. I haven't had to take any ibuprofen and my ankle still feels fine, so yeah!! My grand total for the week was 11miles (I think, if I'm remembering correctly).

TriGirl - glad you were able to get in a work-out and that it went okay. Just don't push it, okay.

Colby - glad you are doing better and was able to do that 5k.

Wahine - what's the reasoning behind doing the test sets on your rest week? I had thought that rest weeks were cutting down on volume and intensity. For your rest week are you just cutting down on volume but not on intensity? Is there an advantage to one over the other? (Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get an idea of different training programs for future use)

KSH - sounds like you've been able to get in some good running workouts. Great to hear.

Good job ladies!

[Wahine]

Wahine - what's the reasoning behind doing the test sets on your rest week? I had thought that rest weeks were cutting down on volume and intensity. For your rest week are you just cutting down on volume but not on intensity? Is there an advantage to one over the other? (Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get an idea of different training programs for future use)

BTC - the idea is to do your test sets when you're rested so you get a good idea of what your capabilities are with minimal interference from fatigue. The sets are really pretty short in duration so although they are intense, they aren't as taxing as a regular interval workout. I did a running test today of 1 mile and was still able to run a total of 6 miles without difficulty.

Cutting volume and amount of intensity work is important. The test sets are the only intensity you do during the week, so really you are resting with regards to intensity and volume.

[btchance]

BTC - the idea is to do your test sets when you're rested so you get a good idea of what your capabilities are with minimal interference from fatigue. The sets are really pretty short in duration so although they are intense, they aren't as taxing as a regular interval workout. I did a running test today of 1 mile and was still able to run a total of 6 miles without difficulty.

Cutting volume and amount of intensity work is important. The test sets are the only intensity you do during the week, so really you are resting with regards to intensity and volume.

Thanks for the info - it makes sense now. I'm just trying to figure out the training methods and what works best for me.