Total miles: 55
This week will focus once again on just keep every run somewhat real and worthwhile. Every mile can count a little, and every run can be of reasonable distance. Mile-wise I haven't really set out what I want for this week quite yet. Somewhere around 60, but I'll have a better idea when I see how I'm feeling at the end of the week after a few long runs and late nights.
Saturday, 7/21
Biked 60 miles
Friday, 7/20
Ran 9 miles in the evening... felt like shit... not my muscles, they felt fine.. it was really just my stomach i suppose
Thursday, 7/19
Ran lacy the long way and did some laps at the park. Middway through my laps I sat and watched a spider spin a web. Seriously, it may be boring... but it was soo freiken cool watching it spin along. This was a really relaxing run, I just jogged along, dreaming of being super fast and such. Madddd chilll.
Wednesday, 7/18
Did the same run as sunday (huntingson merged with full arroyo) but I added in the rose bowl loop and came up orange grove. I held a decent pace throughout the run and even managed to throw fartleks in here or there. At the R.B. I began cruising at about 6:10 pace for a mile or two before chilling back into 7's. Finished 16 miles in under two hours which included stopping for a shit in the arroyo and waiting for lights all the way down green. That probably brings the average to just under 7's. Oh yeah, some little kid tried to race me at the rose bowl but I just beat him up.
Tuesday, 7/17
Felt much better today. Lab went okay and my mind wasn't killing me. After 9 hours in lab I headed to the gym and did patrician. Did a few extra laps once I got back to the track at a nice quick pace. Followed this up with some striders. So two quick questions to everyone reading: 1) Is doing almost several miles of 10+ miles/week ok? It feels ok right now and my body doesn't seem to be chronically physically tired, but I'm not sure. I'm still also able to put a nice little kick in for the last mile or two to excercise my speed.
2) Now seems like the right time to start doing tempo runs. I was thinking of about 3-4 miles at about 5:30- 5:45 pace this friday.
Please let me know what you all think about these things.
Monday, 7/16
Felt like work was really getting me down and depressed. Things in lab aren't going great but they aren't going horrible. Couldn't muster the energy really to do anything today, didnt run.
Sunday, 7/15
Did a run that began as Huntingson, continued down monterey to the arroyo, then hoped in the arroyo at mission and continued as doing full arroyo. This run was hard, I started out going at an honest pace, and often threw in a few fartleks that lasted for a mile or more, not to mention it felt like it was pushin 90 or 95 degrees today. Finished feeling tired, but pulling my last mile in what must have been close to (or sub) 6 min. pace. Overall, ran about high 6's - 7 flats for today... Afterwards I rewarded myself with a day of fun. I had in 'n out for lunch and went into hollywood with the UK kids. Oh yeah, the run was 12 miles... fun times.
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Running, Lasing, Lazing, Cycling, and Drinking in no particular order.
Routes
Personal Records
- 8k (xc): 26:38 (UCR Invite 2007)
- 5k (road): ~16:00 (Stockton Run Against Hunger 2005)
- 5k (track): slow and forgotten (Occidental Distance Carnival 2006)
- 1500 m: 3:54.47 Occidental Invite 2008
- 800 m: 1:55.56 Pomona Invite 2007
- 400 m: ~50 s Occidental Invite 2006 (Mens 4 x 400 m)
8 comments:
Yo Matt nice running. I don't really understand your first question, but about the tempo runs I think that seems okay. If you are getting restless to run fast, go ahead an do it. Then again, making your hard workouts tempo runs instead of 15 mile runs is probably not such a good idea. A really cool workout I was thinking of is doing 2 5ks with full recovery in between, just slightly less than normal tempo pace. This is completely unrelated but I also thought running from red box to the summit of wilson and back would be a pretty bitchin run.
So, you've been putting in the base miles for a month or two now, so uptempo stuff is probably okay. But again, only you know where your body is at. Technically speaking, Wetmore has them "ascend to full volume" prior to introducing training elements (such as tempo runs). I think the reasoning is cuz you don't realize that the increase in intensity will compound an increase in volume. Like if you are still working up to max mileage that you'll more or less hold until season starts, then increasing both the mileage and the intensity will have to be handled with care.
Personally, I think that being comfortable on a run (at reasonable pace) and feeling good enough to kick at the end is a really good indication of training at the right level. I always know that overtraining is setting in when I just kind of trundle lethargically through the end of a run, its like, when you feel good, you're totally pumped up to kick it in. So, I think that "feeling" is a better gauge of what appropriate mileage is, vs. whether the run is close to 10 miles or not. The Brain always says to strive for "pleasantly tired".
To put things in perspective, a 70 mile week is 10 miles per day, and say you add in an off day or an easy day, and some moderate days, you're still inevitably running a good few days per week at or above 10 miles. Again, personally, I feel like when one is in good shape, a ~10 mile run at base pace is a piece of cake. The last time I felt like I was in good shape (hmmm, a few years ago now, since this was back when I used to work for Uncle Bain...) I ran the same 9.3 mile circuit around rolling hills 3 times a week at a moderate pace. Patrician should be a non-taxing run for you, so I think you're right on track.
In terms of 10+ milers, it depends on how many days a week you are planning on running and the week before it. If, for instance, the week before you hit 60 on 7 days, then doing 60 the next week on 6 runs is okay. However, if the week before you hit 60 on 7 days, and you want to hit 65 on 6 days, that's a different story. Suddenly you're jumping from a 8.57mi/run average to a 10.83mi/run average, and that's a big jump.
On Megumi's point about ascending to full volume, I agree that if you're feeling good enough to kick then that's a good sign that you're handing the volume well. But you should be thinking right now, "What kind of mileage do I want to be running once the season starts?"
If the answer is 65 miles a week, then you should focus on hitting 65 miles a week before adding the tempo. If you're feeling itchy, do striders. I just think that, in a way, kicking runs is sort of "junk quality." I'm not sure how to explain it properly, but it's basically a mile or two of "too fast to be tempo" work., and I think it can lead to injuries. I mean, you've run 8 or 9 miles, then you're gonna hammer one or two?
If you're feeling itchy, do striders. If you do six to eight, very smooth, no strain at all, striders, then you'll get help to get rid of that itch. They'll help with form, with economy, with lots of things.
Basically, ascend to full volume while doing striders 2-3x a week, and after you've hit a week at full volume, add in tempo runs. You can even do progression runs like the Mark. But the idea is that you don't exceed threshold pace.
I just think that the problem with kicking runs is you get too caught up going too fast, and you don't really need that kind of work right now.
Ic... Well it seems that for now I'll focus away from doing tempo runs for the next few weeks but still do my beloved fartlek runs every so often. That is the style I've often used to train, I'll just apply it over a longer distance (as I have been).... In addition I'll do striders, but try to avoid times where I do miles that are about 30+ seconds faster than the next fastest miles at the ed of my runs.
kangway, totally agree that hammering the last mile or two is kinda like "junk mileage"... i know cuz i routinely do the equivalent of that on rides (hammer up that little hill at 190 bpm then go screaming the rest of the way home at 25 mph), and then just feel crappy about myself, like arghhh, why did i DO that?! (answer: pent up frustration and dissatisfaction at the rest of the ride)
but i dunno about kiesz, but for me 'kicking in' a run isn't the same at all, its more like a slightly accelerated progression run, like the pace just creeps down cuz you're feeling so good, with maybe a strider at the end. its not like "hammering" and more like "gliding effortlessly", like i can't describe this feeling, its like an unbelievable high, you realize you are going really fast, and it feels about as taxing as a base run, and you feel completely free and totally invinscible. its like the best feeling in the whole wide world. if i could feel this every day i would be happy forever.
The summer before my sophomore year, I used to kick some runs (depending on who I was with). Basically, though, it was always if there was somebody else. So you'd go out and run 5 miles, and over the last mile and a half, the pace would drop from 7:00 to 6:00 and inch down from there. My mile PR at the time was 4:58, but there was definitely one run where, accelerating the last half mile (getting faster and faster until full sprint to break the other guy), I covered it in 2:31.
That sort of kicking can be junk.
I remember hearing about (probably from Ian) that the Kenyans do a run where you start out real chill for a few miles, maybe 4 or 5 at 8 min pace. Then every mile, pick it up 30 sec/mile every mile until you can't go any further. Obviously you wouldn't want to push until you die this early, but you certainly could get above race pace. It's kind of like 5-4-3-2-1, but longer distance, more chill, and African so you know its got to be good.
Ah yes, Garrett describes the aptly-named "Kenyan Run" we did at CMS which is a great idea but never worked with a group of too-competitive college kids. I didn't read everyone's post but it seems fine if you want to start doing a planned tempo once in awhile, just focus on time at a certain intensity rather than the actual pace, stay off the track for now.
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